Notice to IFM: CriteriaCaixa achieves only 0.9% of Naturgy in the market in two months

Two months after the first movement of Cash Criteria on Naturgy, on May 14, the investment arm of the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation has managed to add 0.9% to 24.8% that reached that day. In mid-May, Criteria Caixa announced that it had made the decision to oppose the takeover bid for the Australian MFI fund on the gas company, and assured that it would increase its weight in Naturgy until it did not exceed 30% of the capital, a limit that would force it to launch an offer for 100% of the firm.

But two months after that announcement, the problems in the market to buy shares of Naturgy due to the lack of ‘free float’ have motivated that the entity that presides Isidro Fainé has added ‘only’ 0.9% of the capital of the gas company. In fact, his biggest purchase is the one he made on May 14, 0.4%, before announcing to the market his intention to buy more titles. In addition, there is another reason, the price. Naturgy’s shares They have closed this Tuesday at 22.37 euros, just the price that the Australian fund has offered in its partial takeover by the gas company after the review for the delivery of the dividend, which also questions the operation.

Since then, the firm has reported 37 Naturgy securities purchase operations, adding together less than 1% of the gas company’s capital. Adding the acquisition of May 14, before announcing its intentions, Criteria Caixa has expanded its representation in Naturgy from 24.4% to 25.7%, according to the latest movement notified this Monday to the CNMV.

The reasons that the entity has added this 0.9% since May 14 are not economic, since capital is not a problem for Criteria. The problem is the lack of paper in the market, the lack of free titles, of which Fainé’s headquarters are aware.

Analysts Bank of America They have already warned of this lack of paper to warn about the difficulty of the Australian fund’s takeover bid. Between what they already add CVC, GIP, Sonatrach y Norges Bank -and treasury stock- remains a ‘free float’ of around 28%. For the North American bank, this is a risk for IFM and it does not even rule out that the fund will withdraw. If he retires, he warns, the stock would not suffer excessively.

Waiting for the Government

What’s more, Criteria has still time to continue expanding its participation since the Government has until August to pronounce on the OPA and, subsequently, it has to analyze the case CNMV and give the go-ahead to the file. This means that Fainé has time to continue buying securities and reducing the options for IFM to reach 22.6% of the gas company, a percentage to which its partial takeover bid is directed.

Industry sources explain that the Government is inclined to approve the IFM takeover bid with important conditions, such as the veto on the sale of strategic assets of the gas company. Among them, the Medgaz gas pipeline. The president of Naturgy, Francisco Reynés, has been in Algeria this Tuesday announcing the launch of the expansion of the gas pipeline later this year.