Equis buys 47% stake in China's Oriental Gas
Energy and infrastructure investor Equis Funds Group has taken a 47% stake in Chinese natural gas developer and operator Oriental Gas as part of a $43 million equity financing package.
Equis' co-investor, Runfar Investment Company, will hold the remaining 53% of the business. The two parties have established a long-term relationship designed to support Oriental Gas' growth capital requirements, with further capital likely to be deployed in the company in the near future.
Oriental Gas currently owns four operational and six late-stage construction gas pipelines across five provinces in China. The privately-owned company supplies gas to residential, industrial and commercial customers, with a focus on tier-three and tier-four cities. Oriental Gas is expected to benefit from plans to reduce China's dependence on coal and diversify energy consumption.
"We are pleased to form a long-term relationship with one of China's leading private gas distribution utilities and to support the growth of Oriental Gas in developing projects that encourage China's growth in an environmentally responsible manner," said George Cowan, a partner at Equis, in a statement.
Equis was set up in 2010 by investment professionals who previously worked at Macquarie Group, the Asian Development Bank, AES Corporation, Marubeni Power and APG. The firm closed its debut fund in 2012 at $647 million.
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