The Versicherungskammer Bayern is acquiring German gas power network operator Ferngas-Gruppe from an Australia-based First Sentier Investors fund for €720m ($844m) in Q2 2021.
The Bavarian insurer said the company, operating in the Bavaria and Thüringen provinces, would support energy transition in Germany – although some campaigners have questioned if gas power is a necessary step to a renewable energy society.
However, Ferngas is also involved in country-wide hydrogen infrastructure project, called H2-Startnetz 2030.
Isabella Pfaller, board member at the Versicherungskammer, welcomed the allocation to a “well-positioned German infrastructure company with robust long-term cashflows and attractive profitability, which are based on a stable regulatory framework”.
“Infrastructure plays an important role in Germany’s energy transition and we intend to encourage investments in the sector of the future, hydrogen,” she said.