YPF Sells 70% of MetroGAS to Edenor for US$780 Million

YPF accepted on Monday, August 10, Edenor's offer of US$780 million to sell 70% of the equity and voting rights of MetroGAS, Argentina's largest gas distributor, according to Bloomberg Línea. The transaction includes the 5% stake the oil company holds in MetroENERGÍA and leaves YPF without any interest in either company.

The sale is part of YPF's Plan 4x4, the strategy through which the company focuses its investments on Vaca Muerta, the unconventional hydrocarbon (shale) formation that Argentina positions as the foundation for future liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. According to Forbes Argentina, the divestiture reflects a strategy of shedding peripheral assets and concentrating capital in the unconventional segment. The deal emerged from a competitive process advised by Citigroup, with five finalists including Central Puerto, MSU Energy, and Litoral Gas. For the region's energy map, the move reassigns capital within the Southern Cone: an electricity-sector player will now control Argentina's largest gas distribution network.

Edenor, the country's main electricity distributor, will acquire 290,277,316 Class A shares and 108,142,529 Class B shares in MetroGAS, all carrying voting rights, plus 11,500 shares in MetroENERGÍA. The group of José Luis Manzano, Daniel Vila, and Mauricio Filiberti already controls 9.23% of the distributor through Integra, a stake that will be added to the newly acquired package. MetroGAS supplies approximately 2.4 million users in the City of Buenos Aires and eleven districts in the southern Buenos Aires metropolitan area, according to Infobae. The transaction is not yet closed: it requires regulatory approvals, including from the National Regulatory Body for Gas and Electricity (ENRGE), and the extension of the distributor's license remains pending. The license expires in December 2027, and ENARGAS recommended extending it to 2047.

The next milestone will be the public tender offer for MetroGAS's remaining shares and the Energy Secretariat's ruling on the license extension, which will define business predictability under the new controller. For YPF, the path ahead remains focused on Vaca Muerta and further disposals of secondary assets.

This article was written with artificial intelligence assistance based on verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.