US fund GIP to buy stake in Spain gas firm for 3.8bn euros

Spain's oil giant Repsol and investment firm CriteriaCaixa announced Monday they had agreed to sell a 20 percent stake in utility Gas Natural Fenosa to US fund GIP for 3.8 billion euros ($4.3 billion).

In a statement, Repsol said it would sell just over 100 million shares -- or a 10 percent stake in Gas Natural -- to GIP for 1.9 billion euros, and CriteriaCaixa would do the same.

"The surplus value generated by Repsol... reaches around 246 million euros," said the oil company, which will still have a 20 percent stake in Gas Natural Fenosa after the sale.

CriteriaCaixa, meanwhile, remains the utility's main shareholder after the sale with a 24.4 percent stake, "maintaining significant influence in the company," it said in a statement on its side.

Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is a New York-based fund that invests in infrastructure sectors including utilities, transport and waste treatment.

In a complex web of cross shareholdings, CriteriaCaixa owns a large chunk of CaixaBank -- one of Spain's biggest banks, which itself owns a stake in Repsol.

The oil giant announced in October last year that it would sell 6.2 billion euros in assets and slash investment in exploration and production over the next five years to help preserve dividends and pay back debt.

Last year, it lost 1.2 billion euros after putting aside nearly three billion euros in special provisions for a plunge in crude prices.