Endesa continues to grow through its diversified business and increased market share in the natural gas sector. The Enel Group's Spanish subsidiary has completed its acquisition of the gas marketing group Galp Energia, which began in June 2015. The company announced that the operation has a total purchase price of 34.7 million Euros, and will become effective upon authorisation of the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y de la Competencia (CNMC).
The acquisition will add some 230,000 residential customers to its existing portfolio of 1.2 million customers recorded at the end of June - including its Portuguese customers - thereby strengthening Endesa's presence as one of the major players in the gas sector in the Iberian Peninsula. According to its 2015-2019 Business Plan, Enel has estimated a rapid growth in the sector, both in Spain – where it has a 19 percent market share – and in Portugal. In fact, over the next four years, Spanish customers will reach a total of 1.8 million, and the amount of fuel sold will increase from 5.5 billion cubic metres (56 TWh) to more than 6.8 billion cubic metres (70 TWh).
Endesa plans to quadruple its share of natural gas sold in Portugal by 2018. The company currently provides approximately 350 million cubic metres (3.4 TWh) of natural gas to the country per year, and by the end of 2015, the amount will exceed 400 million cubic metres (4 TWh).
A large percentage is composed of the industrial sector's power supply. At the end of 2014, Endesa's gas sales to Portuguese companies made up 3.5 percent of the market segment and 80 percent of the company's gas contracts in Portugal, making it the second largest power supplier in the country.