May 28 (SeeNews) - Austria's OMV sold some 9.0% in Vienna-based Nabucco Gas Pipeline International (NIC) to French power giant GDF Suez, after it recently took over Germany's RWE share in the project company, OMV said on Tuesday.
"Closing of the transaction is subject to certain conditions and expected to occur in H2 2013," OMV said in a statement.
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The parties to the deal did not disclose the purchase price.
In April, RWE sold its 17% stake in NIC to OMV.
Adding France as a new partner is a clear sign of the pan-European support for Nabucco West, the statement added.
Following closing, NIC is owned by Bulgaria's BEH, Turkey's BOTAS, Hungary's FGSZ, GDF SUEZ, OMV and Romania's Transgaz.
NIC was set up in 2004 to develop, construct and operate the Nabucco pipeline, which was originally planned to start at the Georgian-Turkish border but was later downsized. The shorter 1,300 kilometre Nabucco West pipeline will instead start at the Turkish-Bulgarian border and bring Caspian region gas via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to the vicinity of the gas hub at Baumgarten, near Vienna.
Nabucco West is competing with the rival Trans Adriatic Pipeline to deliver gas from the Shah Deniz II field. The Shah Deniz group, led by BP and Norway's Statoil, has said it will announce their pick by the end of June.
Last week the governments of Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey signed a joint declaration confirming their commitment to the Nabucco West project.