LONDON - The energy company Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday that it had completed its $5.4 billion acquisition of Repsol’s liquefied natural gas business outside North America, a deal originally announced last February.
The deal is slightly smaller than the initial $6.2 billion transaction because of adjustments to the value of assets, including reflecting the financial performance of the energy portfolio and the sale of Repsol’s 25 percent stake in a Spanish power plant to BP in October.
Shell, which beat out more than a dozen bidders, will now pay $3.8 billion in cash to the Spanish energy company and assume about $1.6 billion in leases related to ship charters.
The deal is a significant bet by Shell, already one of the world’s largest providers of liquefied natural gas, that demand for the fuel will continue to increase. The company said the charters are expected to “substantially increase†shipping capacity for its L.N.G. business.
Shell has said that it believes global consumption for liquefied natural gas will roughly double by 2025. The transaction, which includes L.N.G. capacity from facilities in Peru and in Trindad and Tobago, is expected to immediately contribute to Shell’s cash flow.
The deal’s completion also comes as Repsol has had to rethink its strategy after the nationalization of its stake in an oil producer in 2012 by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina.
In November, Repsol reached a tentative deal with the Argentine government over compensation related to the seizure of the producer, YPF, but the terms of the compensation are still being negotiated.
The Shell deal, as well the sale of Repsol’s stake in the Spanish power plant BahÃa de Bizkaia Electricidad, is expected to reduce Repsol’s debt by $3.3 billion and to significantly strengthen its balance sheet.
Repsol has sold assets worth more than 5 billion euros, or about $6.86 billion, since 2012 as part of its strategy to reduce debt and sell noncore businesses.
