Canada’s Nexen sells European energy business to Nomura

Japanese global investment bank Nomura Holdings Inc, yesterday said it has agreed to buy Canadian oil and gas exploration and production company Nexen Inc.'s natural gas and power business in Europe.

The company has not disclosed the terms of the deal. However, a report in the UK-based Financial Times said the deal was valued at about 35 million pounds ($55 million).

Nexen Energy Marketing London Ltd. (NEML), a 100-per cent subsidiary of Nexen Inc., is a physical commodity trading and marketing business focused on European natural gas and power, and has trading operations in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

Nomura currently operates commodities businesses in Europe and Asia, primarily focused on providing commodity solutions to its institutional and corporate client base; it has 26,000 employees across the world.

"The acquisition of NEML will immediately provide Nomura with a power and gas business in Europe and presence in our key focus European markets. It will enable us to trade with a broad range of highly regarded industrial and financial counterparties,'' Jason Tudor, head of commodities in EMEA at Nomura said.

Kieran Higgins, co-head of fixed income in EMEA, said, "Nomura is actively looking to grow its position in commodities, and this acquisition provides a timely opportunity for us. The newly acquired business will provide access to high quality clients, infrastructure and European markets and therefore significantly accelerate our goal of building scale in commodities."