CVC Capital Partners has won the battle to buy Ruhrgas Industries from E.ON, Europe's second-largest utility group. The private equity firm confirmed this morning that it will pay €1.2bn ($1.45bn) for the metering and furnaces firm and take on about €300m of debt.

Financial News reported last week that CVC was favourite to clinch the deal, its largest so far in Germany and in the energy and utilities sector.