Shareholders of Calif.-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp. overwhelmingly approved Total SA's purchase of a 25% stake in the natural gas and alternative fuels transportation company, valued at $83.4 million.
Total agreed to buy 50.8 million shares of Clean Energy Fuels stock, which would make the French oil and gas major the largest Clean Energy Fuels shareholder. The purchase and sale of the shares is expected to close on or about June 13.
In May, the two companies also entered into a strategic agreement to drive the deployment of natural gas heavy-duty trucks.
Total intends to provide up to $100 million of credit support for Clean Energy's leasing program, which the companies hope to launch in the third quarter. The leasing plan is expected to offer natural gas fueled heavy-duty trucks at no increased costs to diesel counterparts, as well as guaranteed discounted fuel costs.
Total has been making a push into the natural gas and electricity space in recent months in an effort to expand its reach beyond the oil sector. The major recently inked a US$1.73 billion deal to acquire a 74.33% interest in French power and gas retailer Direct Energie.
That deal combines Direct Energie's 1.35 GW of combined gas and renewable capacity, including 800 MW of gas-fired capacity and 550 MW of renewable electricity, with Total's existing portfolio of 900 MW. Direct Energie also has about 2.4 GW of mainly renewable energy capacity under development.
Additionally, Total announced in November 2017 that it would acquire ENGIE SA's upstream LNG business for almost $1.5 billion, paving the way for Total to manage an overall volume of about 40 million tonnes per year by 2020.
