Flogas Ireland has moved to expand its market share in the gas supply market with the acquisition of Naturgy Ireland from its Spanish parent, Naturgy Energy Group SA.

Naturgy Ireland is a market leading supplier of renewable electricity, natural gas, biogas and energy services to large energy users in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK.

Its customers include food and beverage producers, major retailers, manufacturing and transport businesses.

The deal is subject to approval by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.

Since the original Irish company, Vayu, was purchased in 2016 by Naturgy Energy Group, the supplier has grown to c.16.8% market share of the large industrial and commercial natural gas market in Ireland.

In Association with

Naturgy also supplies biomethane, renewable electricity, compressed natural gas, and energy services that include Lighting-as-a-Service and Solar PV.

 Naturgy Ltd had turnover of €110m in 2020 and booked a gross profit of €12.4m, a margin of 11.3%. Annual overheads  amount to €5m, and net profit in 2020 was €4.9m.

In 2019, the Naturgy recorded a profit for the year of €168m. This was after it received a dividend payment of €168m. In the same year, the company paid a dividend to shareholders of €167m.

Flogas, a subsidiary of DCC plc, acquired Just Energy’s Irish operation in 2019 and Budget Energy in Northern Ireland in 2020. Flogas sells electricity, natural gas and LPG across the island of Ireland and supplies over 175,000 residential and primarily SME business customers.

Flogas says Naturgy will expand the company’s reach into the large Irish electricity and gas markets in Ireland, where it doesn’t compete at present.

Paul Kenny, general manager, Flogas Energy, commented: “With the strong pipeline of energy services and renewables that Naturgy brings to the table, the agreement will support the further development of our portfolio of sustainable and renewable offerings for the large energy supply sector.”

Kenny added that for the moment there will be no changes for Naturgy customers regarding their existing energy management contracts or account management services.

Naturgy Ireland CEO Liam Faulkner added: “We are proud of the deep relationships we have built with our customers, and they can be assured they can continue to expect the same level of service which we pride ourselves on and which they expect.”

Photo: Paul Kenny (left) and Liam Faulkner. (Pic: Shane O'Neill/Coalesce)