9th Jul 2007 14:14
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC09 July 2007 RBS and Sempra Energy announce Joint Venture Commodities Business RBS Sempra Commodities LLP to Significantly Expand RBS's Global Commodities Platform RBS and Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) have announced that they will form a jointventure in commodities. The joint venture will be called RBS Sempra CommoditiesLLP. RBS, through the joint venture, will acquire a majority shareholding in SempraCommodities, Sempra's successful commodities trading and marketing business,headquartered in Stamford, CT, for a consideration of $1.35bn. The transactionwill have negligible impact on RBS Group's capital ratios and will beimmediately accretive to RBS's earnings per share. The joint venture will be asignificant expansion of the activities of RBS's Global Banking & MarketsDivision (GBM) in this important asset class and provides excellentopportunities for further growth. Johnny Cameron, Director of RBS, said: "Over the past five years RBS hassuccessfully built a first class global customer franchise in the areas ofloans, bonds, fixed income and treasury risk management products, in our keymarkets of Europe, US and AsiaPacific. This joint venture brings leadership in amajor asset class which will further complement that position. We are delightedthat in forming this joint venture we will have more opportunities to meet theneeds of our customers." Sempra Commodities is currently a leading player globally in the trading andmarketing of commodities and the provision of risk management productsassociated with this sector. In particular it is an established player in the US, one of the world's largest energy markets and has an excellent knowledge oftrading within the oil and gas sector. GBM is the leading project finance bankin the world and the leading lender to the renewable energy sector world wide.The joint venture brings together two partners with clear complementarystrengths. The joint venture will also enable RBS to take advantage of importantenvironmental opportunities such as offering customers hedging for carbon andgreen certificate projects. Donald E. Felsinger, Chairman and CEO of Sempra Energy said "Over the past nineyears, we have grown Sempra Commodities to become one of the most successfulcompanies in its sector. Today's announcement establishing RBS SempraCommodities will allow for faster international expansion of the commoditiesbusiness into new markets, leveraging RBS's strong presence in North America,Europe and Asia, and utilise its financial strength to establish a leadershipposition in the commodities sector on a global scale." RBS Sempra Commodities LLP will be consolidated within RBS's Global Banking &Markets. David A. Messer, currently President of Sempra Commodities, will becomeCEO of the joint venture, reporting to Jay Levine Head of GBM, North America andPeter Nielsen, Head of Treasury and Investor Products, GBM. The transaction,which is expected to be completed by year-end, is subject to customary approvalsby the U.K. Financial Services Authority, the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, theFederal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Commodities Futures TradingCommission. For Further Information Contact: RBS Investor Relations Richard O' Connor +44 207 672 1758 + 44 7909 873681 Media Carolyn McAdam +44 131 523 2055 +44 7796 274968 Sempra Media Doug Kline 001 619 540 1685 (cell) About The Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) is a broadly based financial servicesgroup with operations spanning retail banking, corporate and commercial banking,financial markets activities, wealth management and insurance. It is currentlythe 3rd largest financial services group in Europe by market capitalisation andthe 10th largest in the world. RBS Global Banking & Markets is a leading banking partner to major corporationsand financial and governmental institutions around the world. It provides a fullrange of debt financing, risk management and investment services. Its approachis built on innovative and flexible thinking, extensive resources and anunrelenting focus on client relationships. About Sempra Energy Sempra Commodities, based in Stamford, CT., is engaged in marketing and tradingphysical and financial energy products including crude oil and refined products,natural gas, coal and metals. It employs 850 people serving more than 2,600customers worldwide and generated net after tax profits of $504m in 2006. Gas,power and oil businesses are the major contributors to its profits. SempraEnergy, based in San Diego, Calif., is a Fortune 500 energy services holdingcompany with 2006 revenues of nearly $12 billion. It employs 14,000 peopleserving more than 29 million consumers worldwide. This announcement may contain forward looking statements, including suchstatements within the meaning of Section 27A of the US Securities Act of 1933and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements concern or may affect future matters, such as the Group'seconomic results, business plans and strategies, and are based upon the currentexpectations of the directors. They are subject to a number of risks anduncertainties that might cause actual results and events to differ materiallyfrom the expectations expressed in or implied by such forward lookingstatements. Factors that could cause or contribute to differences in currentexpectations include, but are not limited to, regulatory developments,competitive conditions, technological developments and general economicconditions. These factors, risks and uncertainties are discussed in the Group'sSEC filings. The Group assumes no responsibility to update any of the forwardlooking statements contained in this announcement. ### This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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