The US-based energy development company, Linden Energy announced it has signed an agreement to acquire 50 per cent of Bulgaria’s largest privately owned gas company Overgas.
With Linden’s prior commitment to utilise 10 per cent of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) pipeline capacity, whose construction phase has just been completed, this agreement further solidifies Linden’s investment portfolio in Bulgaria and will support new growth in the region’s gas network development.
“The Linden team is very excited to continue our work in Bulgaria and the Balkans and I believe that Overgas is the perfect partner to expand from a leader in the Bulgarian gas market to a leader across the Balkan region,” said Stephen Payne, President of Linden Energy. “In addition to our investment, Linden will take an active role in supporting Overgas’ efforts to diversify the energy market in Bulgaria by adding other sources of natural gas, one possibility being US LNG,” continued Mr Payne.
“The Three Seas Initiative [whose last edition took place in Sofia] aims to develop infrastructure in the territories of the participating States which encompasses the development of energy infrastructure, including gas,” commented Svetoslav Ivanov, Executive Director of Overgas. “As Linden Energy joins the companies in the Overgas Group, it has the ambition to assist in implementing the ideas of Overgas for the development of the markets in the countries in the Western Balkans by ensuring the political and financial support needed for these projects. Our planned projects include exploring the possibility of building system interconnections in the region of the Western Balkans, and gasification of the urbanised territories in the Western Balkan countries.”
The shares were previously owned by Russia’s Gazprom and were repurchased by Overgas in December 2020.
