Spain's Naturgy plunges after Emirati group ends stake talks

Shares in Spain's leading gas supplier Naturgy closed down nearly 15 percent on Tuesday after the Abu Dhabi-based energy holding Taqa said it had dropped its bid to buy a huge stake in the firm.

Taqa announced in April that it was in preliminary discussions with investment funds CVC and GIP to buy their stakes in Naturgy, and also talking to the company's largest shareholder, Criteria Caixa, about a cooperation agreement relating to the Spanish energy firm.

CVC and GIP each own around 20 percent of Naturgy.

But Taqa said Tuesday that these discussions "have ended and a transaction will not take place".

Shares in Naturgy slumped 15 percent to close at 21.14 euros, far outstripping the 1.6 percent decline for Spain's benchmark Ibex 35 index.

Had Taqa acquired the stakes held by CVC and GIP, it would have been obliged to launch a full takeover offer for Naturgy.

Criteria Caixa, the investment holding of Spanish bank La Caixa, which holds 26.7 percent of Naturgy, confirmed that its talks with Taqa had ended "without any agreement having been reached".

Neither Taqa nor Criteria Caixa specified the reasons that led them to end negotiations but Spanish media reports said the talks had failed because they failed to agree on the value of the Spanish group.

Naturgy posted a net profit of two billion euros last year, a 20 percent jump over the previous year, as a strong performance in renewables, especially green hydrogen, offset lower energy prices.