Azeri energy company SOCAR acquires EWE Turkey

ISTANBUL

Azeri state energy company SOCAR has decided to acquire the energy business of Germany’s EWE in Turkey, taking part in the natural gas distribution business in the country for the first time.

“Azerbaijan’s global trademark SOCAR has been selling a total of 1.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the Turkish market at wholesale since 2013. We have been involved in transporting natural gas coming from Azerbaijan with the TANAP [Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline] project which commenced last year. Through the acquisition of EWE Turkey, we have taken a strategic and commercially very important step to fulfill all the production-transportation-distribution cycle of natural gas in Turkey,” said SOCAR head Rövnag Abdullayev in a written statement on Jan. 30.

“The synergy created by this step will add value to the Turkish and Azerbaijani economies. We will continue to evaluate other opportunities in the market in the coming period,” he added.

The acquisition, whose total amount is not announced yet, will be finalized after approvals from the Competition Authority, the Energy Market Regulatory Market and the Information and Communications Technologies Authority.

Turkish gas distributor Palmet was also in talks to acquire the EWE Turkey. Palmet was ready to pay around 150 million euros ($170 million), a representative of the company told Reuters on Jan. 17.

EWE, the fourth-largest natural gas supplier in Turkey in terms of customers, includes Bursagaz and Kayserigaz, the gas distribution networks in the industrial cities of Bursa and Kayseri. It also includes the EWE Enerji and Enervis businesses, which are involved in energy trade and service, according to EWE’s annual report.

EWE Turkey’s annual consolidated turnover in 2017 was 2.4 billion Turkish Liras. The average lira/dollar rate was 3.65 in 2017.