Owners of German gas trader VNG agree $905 mln equity raise to stabilise group

FRANKFURT, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The owners of German gas trader VNG on Thursday agreed to inject 850 million euros ($905 million) of fresh equity in a bid to further stabilise the firm following the halt of Russian gas supplies, majority owner EnBW said.

In a first step, EnBW and OEW, which jointly own 78.4% of VNG, will pay in their share in proportion to their ownership. The third co-owner, VUB, has until May 31 to exercise its subscription rights, which would move to EnBW and OEW should it decide not to, EnBW said in a statement.

"An equity increase became necessary after VNG's equity was significantly depleted in recent months by the high cost of replacement procurement on trading markets," EnBW said.

"The equity increase will provide VNG with liquidity for its core business and investment funding for its ongoing transformation towards green gases."

The equity increase is the last element in VNG's stabilisation, EnBW said, and follows a settlement with supplier Sefe as well as a compensation deal reached earlier this month with the German government. ($1 = 0.9391 euros) (Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)