Baker McKenzie Switzerland, along with lawyers from Baker McKenzie London, Madrid, Rome and Riyadh, advised Enagás S.A. ("Enagás") and Fluxys ("Fluxys") on their acquisition of further shares in Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG ("TAP"). The respective increase of ownership was made possible as former shareholder Axpo agreed to sell its 5% stake to TAP-shareholders Fluxys and Enagás. Under the sale and purchase agreement, Belgium's Fluxys acquired 1% and Spain's Enagás acquired 4% of Axpo's 5% equity stake. Both companies will thus reach 20% ownership of TAP.
The value of the transaction amounts to EUR 210 million. The transaction is subject to customary conditions and closing is expected in the second half of 2023.
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline operates the natural gas transportation infrastructure from the Greek border with Turkey through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy. Other owners of the pipeline are UK shareholder bp (20%), Azerbaijan's SOCAR (20%) and Italy's Snam (20%).
Baker McKenzie Switzerland advised Enagás and Fluxys on all legal aspects of the project.
Led by partners Alexander Fischer, Olha Demianiuk (Zurich) and Antonio Morales, Juanjo Corral Moreno (Madrid), the Baker McKenzie team included the following:
- M&A: Kevin Ardüser (associate, Zurich)
- Antitrust & Competition and FDI: Paloma Martínez-Lage (partner, Madrid), Laura Gonzalez (associate, Madrid), Raffaele Giarda (partner, Rome), Antonio Lattanzio (counsel, Rome), David A. Monnier (partner, Riyadh), Marwan Othman (associate, Riyadh)
- Banking & Finance: Luka Lightfoot (partner, London), Nick Parker (associate, London), Lukas Glanzmann (partner, Zurich)
- Regulatory: Pedro Calzada (associate, Madrid)