Overview
- Metrogas and the Economy Ministry signed an ad‑referéndum agreement on Tuesday to extend the company’s gas distribution license by 20 years from December 28, 2027, moving the expiry date to 2047.
- The extension removes the main regulatory obstacle to YPF’s previously announced offer for EDENOR to buy 70% of Metrogas for US$780 million, but the deal still requires ratification by Metrogas’s Shareholders’ Assembly and presidential approval.
- Metrogas serves about 2.5 million users in the city of Buenos Aires and southern Greater Buenos Aires, roughly 28% of the national gas distribution market, so the sale would substantially expand EDENOR’s footprint across key utility networks.
- Between 2023 and 2025 Metrogas reported stronger finances, including higher profits, lower debt and resumed dividends, and it committed to invest ARS 210,000 million over five years under the latest tariff review, details that affect the asset’s valuation.
- If the extension had not been granted the regulator would have been required to call a public tender within 90 days and could have limited a buyer’s operating horizon, so the agreement both preserves commercial predictability and creates enforceable investment and dispute conditions tied to the new license.