Finance
BlackRock sells 7% stake in Naturgy for $2 billion
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 10, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 10, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
BlackRock sold a 7.1% stake in Naturgy for $1.99 billion, reducing its holding to 11.42%. The sale, managed by JPMorgan, caused Naturgy shares to drop 5%.
Dec 10 (Reuters) - BlackRock has sold a 7.1% in Spanish gas utility Naturgy for around 1.7 billion euros ($1.99 billion) through an accelerated bookbuild placement managed by JPMorgan, the firm said on Thursday.
The transaction leaves BlackRock with around a 11.42% stake in Naturgy after completing the accelerated placement of 68,825,911 shares at a price of 24.75 euros per share.
That represents a discount of around 5.4% to Wednesday's closing price of 26.16 euros per share. At 09:21 a.m. (0821 GMT), Naturgy shares were down 5% at 24.86 euros, the worst performers on Spain's Ibex-35 blue-chip index.
BlackRock became a shareholder in Naturgy through its 2024 acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which had previously invested in the utility.
After selling the stake, BlackRock will be the company's fourth-largest shareholder, after Spanish holding company Criteria, which holds an almost 24% stake. Private equity company CVC holds 18.6% and Australian fund IFM has a 15.2% stake.
"The transaction closes the door to the possible entry of a new shareholder into the company and paves the way for CVC's future exit," Sabadell said in a note to clients.
The transaction, which is expected to increase Naturgy's free float toward its target of around 25%, follows a period of strong performance for the company, which has reported record earnings of around 2 billion euros annually over the past two years.
The company has benefited from increased output from its combined-cycle plants, which have operated more hours since an April 28 grid outage, enhancing supply security and helping avoid widespread disconnections.
($1 = 0.8555 euros)
(Reporting by Jesus Calero and Emma Pinedo. Editing by Louise Heavens and Mark Potter)
An investment is the allocation of resources, usually money, with the expectation of generating an income or profit. This can include stocks, bonds, real estate, or other assets.
Financial markets are platforms where buyers and sellers engage in the trading of assets such as stocks, bonds, currencies, and derivatives. They facilitate the flow of capital and liquidity in the economy.
Capital markets are financial markets where long-term debt or equity-backed securities are bought and sold. They enable companies to raise funds for expansion and investors to earn returns on their investments.
A stake in a company refers to the ownership interest held by an individual or entity, typically represented by shares. It indicates the proportion of the company owned and the rights associated with that ownership.
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