Terra Firma sells northern Irish gas distribution company Phoenix Energy

Private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners yesterday agreed to sell its northern Irish gas distribution company Phoenix Energy Holdings Group to Hastings Funds Management Ltd, for an undisclosed sum, for a speculated around £700 million ($1.06 billion).

In March, Terra Firma, run by founder and chairman Guy Hands, hired J.P. Morgan Chase & Co to sell Phoenix, the largest gas distribution business in Northern Ireland.

Phoenix was established in 1996 to bring natural gas to Northern Ireland, and now has around 140,000 domestic and business customers, and adds 8,000 new customers each year.

Phoenix network currently has 3,000km of pipelines that distribute natural gas to around 50 per cent of the population of Northern Ireland.

The sale is Terra Firma's second this year after the July listing of German residential landlord Deutsche Annington Immobilien SE on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

''The success of this investment highlights the expertise of Terra Firma in transforming asset-backed businesses in essential industries,'' Hands said in a statement.

''Phoenix is well positioned for future growth, and we are confident that under Hastings' ownership it will continue to thrive,'' he added.

''The key ambition for Phoenix in the years ahead is to continue to grow significantly the distribution business, and attracting an investor such as Hastings into the local Northern Ireland economy will help us to meet this ambition,'' said, Peter Dixon, CEO of Phoenix Energy.

''Hastings sees great opportunity for growth here in Northern Ireland and in particular was attracted by Phoenix's ambitions to continue to increase gas availability in its existing licence area as well as to target opportunities for growth in areas that are new to Phoenix.''

Andrew Day, Hastings CEO, said, ''The outlook for the use of natural gas as a clean and efficient fuel source in Northern Ireland is compelling. Phoenix continues to play an important role in bringing gas to consumers in the Greater Belfast area and we are excited to support this.''