Snam to Buy Stake in TAG Pipeline

Italian gas grid operator Snam has approved the purchase for 505 million euros ($654 million) of an 89.2 percent stake in the TAG pipeline carrying Russian gas into Italy, the company said on Friday.

The acquisition of the stake from Italian state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) is part of Snam's four-year business plan to 2017, which was unveiled in March.

Snam will raise the money to pay for the stake through a capital increase reserved to CDP GAS, an investment vehicle owned by CDP, it added in a statement.

The closing of the deal is expected by the end of March 2015.

(1 US dollar = 0.7718 euro)

(Reporting by Danilo Masoni; editing by Agnieszka Flak)