By Angela Macdonald-Smith
Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Osaka Gas Co., Japan's second- biggest distributor of the fuel, joined a group led by Marubeni Corp. that agreed to buy 80.1 percent of an unlisted energy company spun off from Australia's APA Group.
Marubeni, Japan's fifth-largest trading house, will own 49.9 percent of the company, while Osaka Gas will hold 30.2 percent and APA the rest, Sydney-based APA said today in a statement to the Australian stock exchange.
APA, the owner of pipelines that transport more than half of Australia's natural gas, said last week it agreed to sell the stake to a Marubeni-led group, yielding proceeds of about A$600 million ($402 million) to reduce debt. The new entity will hold ``low-risk'' assets currently owned by APA including electricity transmission cables, power generators and three gas pipelines.
``The inclusion of Osaka Gas in the consortium completes a very strong equity partnership and also provides APA with an excellent opportunity to build a close relationship with another major international energy company,'' APA Managing Director Mick McCormack said in the statement.
APA, whose biggest shareholder is Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd., rose as much as 2.4 percent to A$3.00 in Sydney trading. The stock was at A$2.94 at 11:26 a.m. local time. The advance compared with a gain of as much as 3.3 percent in the exchange's benchmark index.
The assets to be included in the new company include the Murraylink and Directlink power cables, the Daandine power plant in Queensland, two coal-seam gas processing plants in Queensland, and the Telfer, Bonaparte and Wickham Point gas pipelines.
To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Macdonald-Smith in Sydney at amacdonaldsm@bloomberg.net
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