(Sharecast News) - National Grid has sold a further 20% of its UK National Gas transmission and metering business to the existing majority owners, a consortium of investors led by Macquarie Asset Management, for around £700m.

National Grid said it intended to use total proceeds of £700m towards general corporate purposes including repayment of debt. The consortium also has the option, exercisable between 1 May 2024 and 31 July 2024, to buy all or part of the remaining 20%.

The stake sale would be on the equivalent financial terms as when it sold a 60% stake to the consortium in January. That deal had implied an enterprise value of about £9.6bn for the unit.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com