ČEZ Energy Group has completed the takeover of a majority stake in the largest domestic gas distributor GasNet. With this acquisition, ČEZ supports the transition of the heating industry from coal-fired energy to natural gas and hydrogen, the company announced.

ČEZ paid EUR 846.5 million (roughly CZK 21.2 billion) for 55.21 percent of the distribution company. The stake being sold was previously managed by Macquarie Asset Management.

"We are very happy that we managed to obtain the approval of the European Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Trade and to complete the acquisition of GasNet, which will allow us to further progress in the transformation of ČEZ and the modernization of the Czech energy industry," said CEO of ČEZ Daniel Beneš.

According to him, in the heating industry, the company wants to switch from coal to gas and biomass by 2030 at the latest, and subsequently also plans to rebuild the gas infrastructure for the distribution of more ecologically produced so-called green hydrogen.

GasNet supplies natural gas to households and companies throughout the Czech Republic except for Prague and the South Bohemian Region, manages sixty-five thousand kilometers of gas pipelines, and has more than 2.3 million customers.

It distributes sixty-six terawatt hours of gas annually. A number of synergies can be found in the operation of distribution networks in electricity and gas, said Pavel Cyrani, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of ČEZ. "We want to focus on those now," he added.

The acquisition is probably the biggest investment this year for the semi-state CEZ. ČEZ's financial director Martin Novák said at the beginning of August that the changes planned in the taken over gas company will only be very marginal.

Other shareholders of the company are Allianz and the Canadian BCI. According to Novák, negotiations on a possible increase in ČEZ's share are not on the agenda, the company wants to concentrate mainly on the smooth integration of the company into its group.

GasNet lost more than 303.5 million crowns last year. Last year, the company reported a net profit of more than 1.89 billion crowns. Last year, the company's sales also fell by roughly six percent year-on-year, amounting to 13.5 billion crowns.

The ČEZ Group is one of the largest energy companies in the Czech Republic. Its majority shareholder is the state, which holds roughly seventy percent of the shares through the Ministry of Finance. In the first half of this year, the group earned 21.1 billion crowns. The group's net profit thus fell by five percent year-on-year.