Spain's Gas Natural SA, on Saturday, has agreed to sell its 63.8% stake in Empresa de Energia del Pacifico SA to Colombia's holding company Colinversiones SA for $1.1 billion.

Gas Natural anticipates the deal with Colinversiones to be accomplished before the termination of the year.

Gas Natural also said that it will use the returns from the sale of EPSA to ameliorate its financial structure after its recent leverage of Spanish power organization Union Fenosa SA. After the sale, Gas Natural will terminate to include in its balance sheet debt associated its stake in EPSA, which at the end of 2008 was about $260 million.

The EPSA venture sale is part of Gas Natural's project to sell assets worth €3 billion, Gas Natural said.

Gas Natural decided to slash its net liabilities to 18 billion euros by the end of 2009 from about 22 billion in June, much of which was assured to finance the acquisition of its Spanish match.