Total Buys French Electric Utility Company in €1.4 Billion Deal

Total SA has entered into an agreement to acquire 74.33 percent stake in Direct Energie, a French electric utility company. The transaction is valued at a total price of approximately €1.4 billion.

In the field of natural gas and electricity distribution to both consumers and professionals, Total is firmly establishing itself as a leading alternative supplier by combining its 1.5 million client portfolio with Direct Energie’s 2.6 million client portfolio.

This combination will enable Total to pursue its ambitious development program to become a standard-setting player in electricity supply in France and Belgium, targeting over 6 million customers in France and more than 1 million customers in Belgium by 2022.

With this deal, Total is also pursuing and expanding its development in the power generation market, with Direct Energie’s power generation activities offering an excellent complementarity with those of the Total group’s subsidiaries operating in these fields.

Direct Energie’s installed capacity of 1.35 GW, including 800 MW of gas-fired power plant and 550 MW of renewable electricity, will supplement Total’s 900 MW installed capacity.

Given Direct Energie’s project portfolio in this area (a 400 MW gas-fired power plant under construction and a 2 GW pipeline of renewable electricity projects in France), Total Eren in emerging countries and Sunpower in US, Total aims to have a global capacity of at least 10 GW of installed capacity within five years, either in the form of gas-fired power plants or in the form of renewable electricity capacities.

“Through this transaction, Total is actively pursuing its development in electricity and gas generation and distribution in France and Belgium. This friendly takeover is part of the group’s strategy to expand along the entire gas-electricity value chain and to develop low-carbon energies, in line with our ambition to become the responsible energy major. We are delighted to welcome the Direct Energie teams into Total,” said Patrick Pouyanne, chairman and CEO of Total.

“We welcome this transaction with pride and enthusiasm and we are convinced that combining with Total will be to the benefit of our customers. The Direct Energie teams will be at the heart of the strategy of one of the greatest French companies. I have no doubt that their hard work, creativity and talents will allow the new entity to expand its ambitions,” added Xavier Caitucoli, chairman and CEO of Direct Energie.

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