Gaz de France

Gaz de France is an energy group French specialized in the Transport and the Distribution of Natural gas. Since the opening of the European markets of energy, Gaz de France is also an actor of the market of electricity, having developed combined offers gas natural-electricity.

Électricité de France and Gaz de France is from now on two completely distinct entities. Each one controls a subsidiary company of distribution, which is in load of the management of its distribution network. For Gaz de France, it is about the Gaz de France Distributer. Together, these two distributers control a common service, " EDF Gaz de France Distribution " in the past " EDF GDF SERVICES" , which is in charge of the interventions on the ground (raised of meters, brought into service, work, etc).

N.B. : Its current and old name, " GDF" , is not official any more. Indeed, the Group communicates under the name of " Gas of France" and does not use the name " GDF" , employee however by his public.

History

Company born post-war period at the same time as EDF, with the law of nationalization of the electricity and gas of the April 8th 1946, it is formed of the fusion of the near total of the privately held companies on the national territory. The public companies are excluded or from mixed economy (controls) (Gaz of Bordeaux for example). Gaz de France takes the statute of public corporation related to commercial industrial and (ÉPIC).

To be established on a territory, it signs from the concession contracts with the communities where it intervenes as operator. It forever have monopoly, as well for the provisioning as for the distribution with the companies and the private individuals.

Law 2004-803 of August 9th, 2004, transforms the EPIC into Public limit company and authorizes its partial privatization by limiting to 30% the share of interests.

However the situation continued to develop. Officially to counter the hostile threat of tender offer of the Italian Enel, the February 25th 2006 the French government announces fusion with the private group Suez.

However, in France, such a fusion is perceived as a “Privatization disguised” of Gaz de France because the participation of the State should mechanically drop not only in lower part of the threshold of 70% fixed by the Law of 2004 prepared by the Minister for the economy Nicolas Sarkozy) but also in lower part from the 50%. Contrary, in Belgium, several political officials worried about control by the French State on the one hand important of the production and energy distribution in Belgium. The exact level of the public participation in the possible amalgamated unit is dependant on the true nature of the fusion and respective valorizations of the two companies. A level of 34% of public participation was evoked in a strongly polemical context.

If Nicolas Sarkozy seems to be opposite during several months with the project of the government Villepin to amalgamate the two companies, it accepted the governmental proposal thereafter.

This Merger plan GDF-Suez was criticized as well by the whole of the left, which has feared the loss of one of the last means of stopping the rise of the prices known for 3 years, like by the social gaullists.

The Loi n° 2006-1537 of December 7th, 2006 relating to the energy sector authorizes the privatization of Gaz de France.

September 2nd, 2007, the boards of directors of Gaz de France and SUEZ approved new orientations for the merger plan between SUEZ and Gaz de France (Merger plan GDF-Suez) which must be concretized in the current of the year 2008.

Introduction of Gaz de France out of Stock Exchange

The negotiations of the Gaz de France actions began on July 8th, 2005 at 12 noon on the Eurolist from Euronext Paris, under the code ISIN FR0010208488.

Supply price:

offers at open price (OPO): 23,20 € per action;
guaranteed total placement: 23,40 € per action;
offers held to the paid ones: 18,56 € for the formulas with rebate and 23,20 € for the formula without rebate.

3,1 million private individuals bought some.

At the end of the first day, the action was worth 28,50 €, i.e. + 22,84% in hardly some hours (what represents even a potential profit from + 53,56% for the reserved offer with the employees, subjected to conditions of duration of detention).

Management of the firm

Robert Hirsch: 1970-1975
Pierre Alby: 1979-1986
Jacques Baker: 1986-1988
Francis Gutmann: 1988-1993
Loïk Le Floch-Prigent: 1993-1996
Pierre Gadonneix: 1996-2004
Jean-François Cirelli: since 2004

Key figures

In 2006:

Customers: 13,9 million in Europe.
Personal: 50.244 collaborators, including 32% out of France and 25% Average women
techniques:

Gas pipeline S: in France 31.610 km.
Methane tankers: Float of 12 methane tankers, of which Provalys, the largest methane tanker of the world
Terminaux methane tankers: 2 (with Fos-sur-Mer and Mounting block-of-Brittany).
underground Storage: 12 sites, for a service output of 9,2 billion m ³.
transported Volume: 687 gas TWh (in France in 2006).
Distribution in France: 185.000 km of drains and 9100 connected communes.

Financial data

Stock exchange data

Principal shareholders at January 31st 2007:

Individual and Institutional: 17,9%
French state: 79,8%
paid: 2,3 %

For memory, in 2005: floating 17%, French state 80%, employees 3%

The dividend by action was of 0,68€ in 2005 and 1,10€ in 2006.

Strategy of Gaz de France

Three main roads appear to get clear:

Internationalization in the countries of Europe, in particular with Cofathec, subsidiary of services multi-energies and Gaz de France Energy, companies present in France, Italy, Great Britain, with the the Swiss Benelux countries and in ;
diversification in the other forms of energies: natural gas, electricity and Oil. The subsidiary company Gaselys, held to 51% by Gaz de France and 49% by the General society, is one of the tools of the group to penetrate the market of electricity in Europe, in particular in the field of broking. To note that this company gained in 2004 one of the batches of provisioning of the SNCF of electricity of competition with EDF;
development of services associated with the supply with energy: services multi-energies with Cofathec, services of management of the financial Risk with Gaselys (intervention on the financial markets).

For its part, Gaz de France advances 4 axes of development: the development of an ambitious sales strategy, continuation of a policy of approvisonnement " saine" , confortement of the position of the Group on the trade of the infrastructures and the acceleration of the development of the Group in Europe.

Trades

Gaz de France affirms being the only European group with being present on all the chain of energy, in 6 different trades.

Gaz de France is organized in 5 Branches:

the branch “Total Gas and GNL”
the branch “Energy France”
the branch “Services”
the branch “International”
the branch “Infrastructures”

According to Gaz de France, the purpose of the organization of the trades is to guarantee the integration of the subsidiary companies of the Group and to make it possible most effective. She also seeks to evaluate the potentials of development quickly and to ensure the coherence of the proposed offers.

The branch " Total Gas and GNL"

This branch is composed of 5 entities:

Management Exploration - Production

This entity is responsible for the management and the development of participations in licenses of exploration and production of natural gas, as operator or partner, as well as marketing of the productions of Natural gas and oil in particular near the Négoce trade.

Gaz de France is referred as operator in exploration-production in 7 countries. The Group seeks and develops new layers in Europe, in Algeria, in Egypt and Mauritania. At the end of 2006, the proven and probable reserves of the Group rise to 685,3 million barrel-equivalent-oil (Mbep), and the production with 45,5 Mbep, including natural gas 71%.

The announced strategic direction is the following one: in the long term to produce 15% of the needs for natural gas of the group.

Management Provisioning (purchase) and the Management of the Sales (sale)

It is about:

the management and optimization of the wallet of provisioning of the Group in 3 directions:

contracts of long run
own resources of the Group
interventions near the markets of short term.

the sale of energy and complementary services near large customers in France and Europe.
the sale of energy near the private individuals, the companies, the professionals and the Territorial collectivities.

The strategic directions announced by Gaz de France are the following ones:

to impose itself as the commercialisator of reference which one chooses.
To consolidate the wallet of provisioning of Natural gas of the group.
To constitute a wallet of partly founded provisioning of electricity on the acquisition and the development of production capacities.
To develop the offers and the sales of gas and electricity with the large industrial customers and the distributers in Europe, in particular within the framework of offers multiservices and multiénergies.
To develop an offer multiénergies (gas - electricity) in all the countries where the group is present, in particular for the private individuals the day before the total opening of the markets on July 1st, 2007.

For the Purchase part:

Gaz de France places itself among the first natural gas traders to Europe. In 2006, the supplies of the Group natural gas amount to 639 Twh.

Gaz de France made pass from 24% (2005) to 29% (2006) the share of natural gas liquefied in its provisioning.

As regards electricity, the Group has an electric production capacity of 2.650 MWe and one long-term big contract of provisioning of electricity with EDF.

For the Sale part:

With regard to the Sale part, Gaz de France markets its energies with dedicated marks:

Gaz de France DolceVita® is addressed to the particular customers
Gaz de France Provalys® is addressed to the professional customers, and in particular to the craftsmen, to tradesmen, liberal professions and with the companies.
Gaz de France EnergY® is addressed to the large european consumers and proposes services overmeasure, in particular in financial engineering.
Gaz de France Energies Communes® proposes solutions for the energy policies of the territorial collectivities

Management GNL
It coordinates and manages the whole of the linked activities with Liquefied Natural gas (strategy and projects GNL, management of the fleet ensuring the transport of the GNL, technological survey…).

Gaselys
It is about the subsidiary company of trading held by Gaz de France (to 51%) and the General society (to 49%). It is specialized in the risk management of prices related to energy (gas, electricity, oil, coal, inter alia).

The branch " France" energy;

This branch structure around the 3 following operational entities:

Management Upstream Electricity

It ensures the development, the exploitation and maintains it production capacities of electricity in France and abroad.

the Commercial department

It deals with the relation customers, the commercial communication near the customers (particular, craftsmen, tradesmen, liberal professions, companies, territorial collectivities) and the animation of the dies of professionals (ex: Dolcevita partners bringing together plumbers, heating specialists, professionals of maintenance and maintenance).

Savelys

This held subsidiary company with 59% by Gaz de France is specialized in the maintenance and the breakdown service of boilers.

The branch " Services"

It is about the development of offers of service complementary to the supply of energy: energy services, plant maintenance, etc

The strategic direction announced by Gaz de France consists in increasing the market shares by internal growth and external:

By developing multiservices offers in all the European countries where the Group is present, complementary to offers multiénergies (gas - electricity) of the group,
While developing and by exploiting the capacities of Production of electricity of the group.

In 2006, the Services activity employs 12.865 people, including 8.000 in Europe and carries out a turnover of 2.181 million euros. Cofatech is the principal subsidiary company of the Group intervening in this field. Specialist in the energy services, it is positioned near the main actors in industry, the tertiary sector, the real estate and the local government agencies

The branch " International"

As its name indicates it, the branch “International” is in charge of the piloting of the subsidiary companies of the Group which are attached to him and installed in the World. It is responsible for the development of Gaz de France apart from France.

The branch " Infrastructures"

This branch ensures transport, the distribution, the storage of natural gas and the gasification of natural gas liquefied (GNL) in France.

This branch is composed of 4 entities:

the Management of the Great Infrastructures (DGI)

Gaz de France develops and exploits:

of the works of transport in France.
of underground storages in France.
of the terminals Methane tanker S in France.

Strategic direction:

To improve the performances of the network by continuing Investment S supported in the Infrastructure S Frenchwomen of Transport, Storage and GNL.

Gaz de France affirms to have the second storage capacity in Europe, with 12 sites of a service output of 9,2 billion m3 in France, and a presence in Germany, Czech Republic and as Slovakia through her subsidiary companies.

Announcing to anticipate a doubling of the demand for natural gas in Europe from here 2015, Gaz de France estimates to reinforce the capacities of its sites, in particular those of Étrez, of Saint-Clearly-on-Epte, of Céré-the-Round, or Soings ‑en ‑ the Sologne. The Group also develops 2 new sites of storage in Hauterives (Drome) and Three-Fountains (the Marne) and explores new zones being able to accommodate sites of storage, for example in Alsace.

With regard to the development of the terminals methane tankers, the two terminals methane tankers of the Group, Fos Tonkin and Mounting block-of-Brittany, make it possible to place at the disposal 17 billion m3 of natural gas per annum capacity gasification. The startup of a new terminal in France with Fos Cavaou is announced like " prochaine".

the subsidiary company GRTgaz

It is of the marketing and the realization of transport services on behalf of the shippers. GRTgaz is the subsidiary company of transport in France of Gaz de France. It exploits and markets a network of 31.610 kilometers, accessible to all the shippers who intervene on the French territory. This network also counts 27 plants compressor and 687 Twh were transported there in 2006. Lastly, Gaz de France invested 245 million euros in the development of this network in 2006.

The Gaz de France Group is in addition shareholder of several shipping companies in Europe:

Deutschland Transport in Germany (100%)
BOG in Austria (not specified participation)
SPE and SEGEO in Belgium (not specified participation)

the subsidiary company in load of Distribution (GRD)

The manager of the distribution network of Gaz de France deals with the following missions:

the development and exploitation of the distribution networks in France.
the marketing and the realization of services of distribution on behalf of the suppliers.

Strategic directions:

To associate growth and Public service by continuing the development of the network while ensuring the continuity of the public service missions.

The Gaz de France distributer on the whole exploits a network of 185.000 kilometers, accessible to all the operative natural gas suppliers on the French territory.

the Delegation Infrastructures
She manages the activities of transport and storage out of France and synergies for the whole of the activities of infrastructures of the Group.

Management of the firm (at October 30th, 2007)

Board of directors

Gaz de France is equipped with a Board of directors made up of 18 named administrators or elected officials for one period five years according to the following distribution:

Six representatives of the State named by decree of the Minister for the Economy, Finances and Employment.

Six elected official employee representatives in accordance with the law n° 83-675 of July 26th, 1983 relating to the partial privatization of the public sector.

Six administrators elected by the General meeting of the shareholders.

History of the logos

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