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(Bloomberg) — The United Arab Emirates’ Taqa has reached out to Naturgy Energy Group SA’s largest shareholder to revive an offer for a stake in the €24 billion ($26 billion) Spanish utility, people familiar with the matter said.

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Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, chairman of the UAE’s top power company, traveled to Spain and met with an executive of CriteriaCaixa SA to discuss a potential deal, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the talks are private. Alsuwaidi is also the UAE’s investment minister. 

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Criteria, which holds 26.7% of Naturgy, indicated it’s open to talks as long as two demands are met: that Taqa doesn’t seek to own a majority stake and that there aren’t any diplomatic conflicts with Algeria, where Naturgy has extensive business, one of the people said. Criteria will not agree to a deal in which it would become a minor shareholder, according to one of the people. 

Deliberations are ongoing and there’s no certainty that Taqa and Criteira will proceed with a transaction, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. Taqa, Criteria and Naturgy declined to comment. 

Last year, Criteria and Taqa sought to join forces to buy out a group of shareholders in Naturgy. The talks fell through largely over disagreements on who would control the utility.

Naturgy has been struggling for several years with a highly complex shareholder structure, with four different groups owning at least 15% stakes each but with different goals. This has both been a drag on the share performance, as the company lost liquidity, but has also curtailed management’s ability to invest and do deals. 

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The situation has also raised concern from the Spanish government, which views Naturgy as a strategic company and has the ability to block any deal. The government has already signaled its support to Taqa buying a stake, Bloomberg news reported in February. 

Relations with Algeria are also a central factor. 

Naturgy owns two large gas pipelines that carry fuel from Algeria to Spain, although one hasn’t been used for imports for several years. Sonatrach, the Algerian-state owned gas company, owns a 4.1% stake in Naturgy. Spain had a diplomatic fallout with Algeria in the past, but has restarted relations. The United Arab Emirates and Algeria also have a tense diplomatic relation. 

Criteria, Spain’s largest investment group, has a relationship dating back decades with Naturgy. Buyout firms CVC Capital Partners Plc and BlackRock Inc.’s Global Infrastructure Partners each own close to 21% of the Spanish utility, and have previously signaled their willingness to exit. Australia’s IFM Global Infrastructure LP, which holds 16.9% of Naturgy, has aspirations to be a long-term investor but has clashed with Criteria over how to manage the company.

Taqa, which has a market value of about $95 billion, has been looking at overseas deals as the United Arab Emirates seeks to diversify its portfolio. The firm is among suitors evaluating an investment in the German government’s stake in power company Uniper SE, Bloomberg News reported in January.

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