A Macquarie consortium purchased for $4.1 billion the gas grid of German energy firm E.ON. Open Grid Europe runs Germany's biggest gas transmission system and is about 12,000 kilometres long.

It is the main transport system for gas shipments to Russia and Norway.

Members of the Macquarie consortium are Infinity Investments, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation and MEAG Munich Ergo Asset Management.

The Australian investment bank led in 2010 a consortium that purchased RWE, Germany's second largest energy firm.

The $4.1-billion (3.2 billion euros) price tag for Open Grid Europe includes adjustments for pensions and other assets, according to E.ON, which targets to raise about 15 billion euros through the sale of different subsidiaries. The amount would be used to cut E.ON's debt - which was at 37.6 billion euros as of end of March - and fund its expansion in growth markets such as Turkey and India, as well as help offset the impact of Germany's exit from nuclear use.

DZ Bank analyst Hasin Senguel said the sale allows E.ON to deleverage further without the loss of high earnings. He pointed out the sale price was almost a third above expectations.

E.ON said it expected to close the transaction by the third quarter of 2012. The Macquarie consortium beat three other bidders led by GDF Suez of France, Allianz of Germany and Fluxys of Belgium. .

To underwrite the $2.5 billion loans for the Open Grid purchase, Macquarie hired nine banks, Bloomberg reports. These are the Bank of Nova Scotia, BNP Paribas, Export Development Canada, Commerzbank AG, Credit Agricole, ING Groep, Royal Bank of Canada, Societe Generale and UniCredit.

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