German insurer Vericherungskammer Bayer has acquired Ferngas Group, a natural gas company in Germany, from First Sentier Investors (FSI) for €720m.

Isabella Pfaller, board member of Vericherungskammer Bayer, said: “With this transaction, we are positioning the Versicherungskammer as a new strong, lead investor in this asset class.”

Ferngas operates a gas network of 3.063km in the southern and the eastern parts of Germany, mainly in the states of Bavaria and Thuringia, and in Hessen, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

FSI acquired Fernagas from E.ON in 2013 via the European Diversified Infrastructure Fund FCP-SIF (EDIF) fund. Under the ownership of FSI, Ferngas has been expanding the gas pipeline in Thuringia with a total investment volume of €180m. Fernagas also supports H2-Startnetz 2030, the first hydrogen infrastructure project in Germany.

According to media reports last year, FSI had put the asset up for sale and had also received offers from Italian gas infrastructure company Snam, Swiss Life and JPMorgan Infrastructure.

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