MILAN, June 1 (Reuters) - Private equity fund EISER Infrastructure Partners said on Wednesday it had agreed to sell Italian gas pipeline group Societa Gasdotti Italia to an Italy-based unit of the Macquarie group.
The deal is worth 550-600 million euros according to a source close to the matter.
In a statement EISER said it had signed a binding agreement to sell SGI to an Italian vehicle of Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 4 (MEIF4), managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets and Swiss Life Asset Managers.
The investment is the latest in a series of green energy acquisitions by the Macquarie group in Italy.
In 2014 MEIF4 bought wind assets from energy company Sorgenia and last year bought a stake in a hydroelectric power plant in northern Italy from utility Enel ENEI.MI .
The deal, subject to clearance by the European competition watchdog and the Italian government, is expected to close in the third quarter, it said.
Citi advised EISER while Rothschild and UniCredit CRDI.MI advised MEIF4 and Swiss Life Asset Managers.
Societa Gasdotti Italia operates an integrated network of around 1,500 kilometres of high pressure natural gas pipelines in central and southern Italy.