BRE Singapore (BRES), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Banpu NEXT Co., in which Banpu holds 50% shareholding, has signed a Shares Subscription Agreement (SSA) to purchase 49.04% shareholding in Solar Esco Joint Stock Company, a renewable energy company and a provider of integrated solar rooftop platform in Vietnam for the consideration of $14.5 million.
The transaction is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2022.
The transaction is a part of Banpu’s acceleration plan of achieving greener energy and energy technology businesses to over 50% by 2025.
“Over the past two years, Banpu has continued to invest in green energy portfolio in Vietnam with a total capacity of 218 MW to date. This investment marks an important step in expanding our green energy portfolio to the energy technology business in Vietnam for the first time, in particular, the integrated solar rooftop platform. Apart from the clear benefit of immediate cash flow, the investment leads to a synergistic partnership between Banpu and Solar Esco to enhance mutual strengths, exchange know-how and expertise, and build upon the current business assets of both companies. This is a part of our accelerated transition towards a sustainable energy future under our Greener & Smarter strategy as well as to strengthen Banpu’s ecosystem,” said Somruedee Chaimongkol, Chief Executive Officer of Banpu Public Company Limited.
Solar Esco Joint Stock Company is a solar rooftop platform in Vietnam that provides planning, development, EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction), and O&M (Operations and Maintenance) services own an existing capacity of 20.4 MW and potential capacity of 106 MW in the pipeline.
In June 2021, Australian-based New Energy Solar entered into a binding agreement to sell its two Australian assets, Beryl (111 MW) and Manildra (56 MW), to Banpu Energy, a subsidiary of BANPU Public Company Limited, and affiliates for a combined gross asset value of A$288 million (~$222.7 million).
According to Mercom’s Q4 2021 solar funding and M&A report, M&A activity in the solar sector soared with 126 transactions in 2021 – the highest number of deals ever recorded. Most of the transactions involved Solar Downstream companies.
