Equinor, the energy major formerly known as Statoil, has acquired power and gas trading firm Danske Commodities for €400 million (£350 million).
The company said in acquiring the Denmark-based energy trader, it would trade all of its power and certificates trading activities to Danske and its “highly scalable” trading platform.
Danske will take on the additional roles of balancing and optimising Equinor’s renewables portfolio and Henrik Lind, chief executive and founder at Danske Commodities, said the deal marked an “exciting new chapter” for both companies.
“Together, we see immediate opportunities to support Equinor’s renewables portfolio, grow trading capacity and build flexibility in both power and gas – and this is just the beginning.”
Meanwhile Tor martin Anfinnsen, senior VP for marketing and trading at Equinor, talked up the role Danske Commodities will play in broadening Equinor’s scope in the energy market.
“We are excited to work with Danske Commodities’ people, trading platform, and geographic footprint to expand our renewables business and achieve significant scale in power and gas trading,” Anfinnsen said.
It’s not the first time a major utility has sought to expand its activity base through the acquisition of an energy trading outfit. In 2016, Centrica bolted on Neas Energy – another Danish energy trader – for a total fee of £32 million.
