French energy firm Total divests stake in Fos Cavaou LNG terminal

French energy group Total had sold its 27.5% interest in Fosmax LNG, which operates France’s Fos Cavaou liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to Elengy.

A subsidiary of GRTgaz within the Engie Group, Elengy was Fosmax LNG’s majority shareholder with a 72.5% stake.

The Fos Cavaou LNG terminal is located at Fos-sur-Mer near the Cavaou peninsula in southern France. It is spread across an area of 80ha.

With this deal, Elengy now owns a 100% stake in Fosmax LNG, as well as 100% of the Fos Tonkin and Montoir-de-Bretagne terminals.

Total noted that the sale of the stake is valued at $260m, including the acquisition of a shareholder loan and excluding any earn-outs.

The divestment of this non-strategic midstream infrastructure asset is part of Total’s plans to sell $5bn worth of assets in 2019-2020.

Total mentioned that its current regasification capacity stands at 18Mtpa in Europe.

The company retains its regasification capacity of around 5.5Mtpa at the LNG terminal.

In a press statement, Elengy said: “For Elengy, the European leader in LNG terminals, and for its shareholders, this acquisition reflects the ambition to increase the industrial development of its sites at Fos-sur-Mer: Fos Cavaou and Fos Tonkin, at a time when LNG enjoys a new boom to support ecological transition.”

In May 2018, Elengy and Fosmax LNG started works on adapting the Fos Cavaou LNG terminal for LNG bunkering service.