RIYADH: Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, may acquire assets of the UK’s National Grid, which operates electricity and natural gas transmission networks, CNBC Arabia reported, citing two unnamed sources.
QIA was part of a consortium of investors that acquired about 61 percent of the British company's gas pipeline assets five years ago.
Now the Qatari fund is competing with other global investment funds, including Macquarie and Equitix, to acquire the gas assets in an estimated $7 billion deal, the sources said.
Goldman Sachs and Barclays are advising National Grid on the sale, the report added.
This comes amid a protracted energy crisis that has affected the UK and Europe significantly in recent months amid the disruption of global supply chains.
The country earlier announced it reached an agreement with Qatar to secure its gas needs or 40 percent of the UK’s total energy mix.
National Grid has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and a secondary listing in the form of its American depositary receipts on the New York Stock Exchange.
