The European Commission has approved the acquisition of Germany’s Thyssengas by EDF and the Dutch Infrastructure Fund (DIF).

The gas network firm, which owns a 4,200km pipeline, was previously owned by Macquarie.

EDF and DIF are understood to be paying around €700m for Thyssengas, according to previous press reports.

Macquarie has owned Thyssengas since late 2010.

Macquarie-managed funds, consisting of Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund III (MEIF3) and a private infrastructure mandate managed by Macquarie Specialised Asset Management Limited (MSAM), bought the network in late 2010 from RWE.

Thyssengas owns and operates a regulated, supra-regional gas-transmission network in Germany, transporting almost 10bn cubic metres of natural gas annually to 56 downstream networks, which in turn supply 9m households and 150 industrial customers.