Cadent shareholders tap Morgan Stanley for stake sale
Several investors, including Macquarie Asset Management, are understood to have hired Morgan Stanley to advise on selling a stake in Cadent Gas, the U.K.’s largest gas distribution utility.
The shareholder group is also thought to include CIC Capital, a subsidiary of China Investment Corp.
News of the sale, which is expected to come to market in the coming weeks, was first reported by PeakLoad on Jan. 19.
Macquarie previously hired Nomura Greentech to run a sale at the beginning of 2024. However, that deal of a minority stake is understood to have stalled at an early stage.
Coventry-headquartered Cadent, with a regulatory asset value of some £12 billion, delivers gas to nearly 11 million households and businesses in the U.K., covering roughly half of the country.
Cadent, formerly called National Grid Gas Distribution Ltd., owns and operates 131,000 km of gas pipelines in networks covering the East of England, North London, North West England and the West Midlands.
Cadent generated £2.17 billion of revenue in the year to March 2025, down from £2.27 billion in 2024.
Its pre-tax profits fell from £697 million to £438 million over the same period.
The utility is levered with some £7.4 billion of net debt.
In March 2017, Quadgas Investments, an infrastructure fund joint venture led by MAM (at the time called Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets) acquired a 61% stake in Cadent Gas from National Grid.
It subsequently acquired full ownership via two further acquisitions.
The Quadgas consortium also comprises CIC Capital, Allianz Capital Partners, Hermes Investment Management, Amber Infrastructure Ltd/International Public Partnerships, Dalmore Capital and the Qatar Investment Authority.
Officials at Macquarie and Morgan Stanley declined comment.