Energy Assets' shares lifted by Gazprom deal

City Editor

Saturday 13 October 2012

SHARES in Energy Assets, the Livingston-based gas meter specialist that joined the stock market earlier this year, received a boost after the company splashed out some of its listing proceeds on the UK metering business of Russia's Gazprom.

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Tim Sharp City Editor

Gazprom is the second-biggest gas provider to UK industrial and commercial customers and the £13.5 million purchase of Gazprom Global Energy Solutions (GGES) gives Energy Assets exclusive rights to instal meters for its new customers.

This, Energy Assets said, could see it double its current 53,000-strong estate of meters.Energy Assets' current main customer, Corona, is number four in this key sector.The purchase will also more than double the number of data loggers overseen by the company and will extend its reach for the first time beyond the gas sector to water and electricity.Energy Assets listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange in March, the first Scottish-headquartered firm to do so for nearly five years.This enabled it to raise a net £11.7 million to take its war chest, including debt, to some £30m.However, as the market has awaited a significant deal, its shares have consistently traded at a discount of the offer price at its initial public offering (IPO) of 210p a share. It recovered some ground yesterday as its shares rose 5p, or 2.7%, to 189p.Phil Bellamy-Lee, chief executive of Energy Assets, said: "This transaction provides Energy Assets with a fantastic opportunity to continue the development of the long-standing relationship between the two companies and is a significant step in the delivery of Energy Assets' strategy to increase meter asset management and ownership as set out at the time of the IPO."Energy Assets is acquiring Manchester-based GGES for an enterprise value of £13.5m.This includes an initial cash payment of £6m, a potential cash earn-out payment of £3m, which depends on how many data logger installations Energy Assets carries out, and existing GGES debt of £4.5bn which is to be refinanced on acquisition.A key driver in the sector is expected to be the increased use of automated meter readers that allow companies to keep track of their energy usage.GGES manages a portfolio of 27,000 data points across gas, water and electricity sectors. Energy Assets has 21,000.The acquisition brings with it GGES intellectual property such as its automated meter reading technology for gas and water applications, although Gazprom will retain rights to use it in Russia, Germany and former Soviet Union countries.Vitaly Vasiliev, chief executive of GGES's immediate parent company Gazprom Marketing & Trading, said: "We know from experience that Energy Assets offers our customers great service. This deal offers those customers an ongoing commitment to excellence."

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Energy Assets' shares lifted by Gazprom deal

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