Osaka Gas and Marubeni Corporation completed their official processes for acquisition of 80.1% equity interest of APA GasNet Australia Investment Limited (GAIL), a wholly owned subsidiary of APA Group in Australia . According to the agreement reached by the three companies today, the equity composition of GAIL will be; Osaka Gas 30.2%, Marubeni 49.9%, APA 19.9%. Upon this transaction, GAIL has changed its name to Energy Infrastructure Investment Pty Limited (EII).

APA is a major energy company managing gas pipelines, gas processing plants, and gas storage facilities throughout Australia . In recent years, APA has also been penetrating in power generation, power transmission, and gas distribution businesses. Osaka Gas and Marubeni will be taking part in business involving energy-related assets that have been transferred from APA, through investment towards EII. EII will be operating gas pipelines, power generating facilities, gas processing plants and inter-connectors within Australia, and is expected to generate stable revenue for mid- and long-term, based on long-term contracts and regulated rate system. (See below for EII assets.)

Osaka Gas, Marubeni, and APA will devote to succeeding in EII projects, and will contribute to development of the Australian energy industry as they expand business portfolio in Australia .

[EII Assets] 1. Murraylink (Transmission Line 176km) 2. Directlink (Transmission Line 63km) 3. Telfer (Gas Pipeline 442km) 4. Nifty (Gas Pipeline 46km) 5. Bonaparte (Gas Pipeline 286km) 6. Wickham Point (Gas Pipeline 13km) 7. Mt Isa (Power Station 32000kw) 8. Daandine (Power Station 27000kw) 9. Kogan North (Gas Processing Facility320,000m3/day) 10. Tipton West (Gas Processing Facility770,000m3/day)
[Company Profile] Name: Marubeni Corporation Headquarters: Tokyo JAPAN President and CEO: Teruo Asada Capital: 262 billion yen Founded: December 1949 Business Outline: General trading company Sales: 10.6 trillion yen (as of March 2008)
Name: Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. Headquarters: Osaka JAPAN President and CEO: Hiroshi Ozaki Capital: 132 billion yen Founded: April 1897 Business Outline: Distribution of gas, generation and distribution of power, etc. Sales: 1.2 trillion yen (as of March 2008)
Name:APA Group Location:New South Wales, Australia Founded:2000 Business Outline: Gas pipeline, gas processing plant, gas fired power station, gas storage facility, power transmission line, etc. Largest Shareholders: Petronas Australia Pty Ltd 13.38% HSBC Custody Nominees (Australia) Limited 6.43% RBC Dexia Investor Services Australia Nominees Pty Limited 5.21%
Contact: Osaka Gas Co., Ltd Corporate Communications Dept., Media Relations Team TEL: 06(6205)4515 Marubeni Corporation Corporate Communications Dept., Media Relations Section TEL: 03(3282)4260