Coming back to the market for the first time in two years in October 2018, Dutch state-owned gas infrastructure company Gasunie ran into a storm of market volatility as companies across Europe pulled capital market deals amid concern over the Italian economy and global stock markets in risk-off mode. The company took the decision to go ahead with a €300m bond, the proceeds of which would help it fund its capital investment programme and meet redemptions.
Gasunie operates a transmission and pipeline grid across much of northern Europe and provides liquefied natural gas (LNG) and storage facilities. At the centre of its infrastructure operations is its ‘gas roundabout’, built in 2014 to link areas across the Dutch, UK and German markets. The roundabout ensures that gas can be transported and traded as LNG (in the Netherlands and the UK) as it moves mainly from Russia and Qatar to the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Denmark and the UK. In early 2018 the company announced plans to build Europe’s largest green hydrogen production plant in the north of the Netherlands, in partnership with paint and chemical maker Nouryon.
