ENGIE and Credit Agricole Assurances have agreed to acquire a 97.33% stake in Eolia Renovables, a renewable power producer from Canadian institutional investment manager, Alberta Investment Management Corporation.
The acquisition covers the ownership and operation of 899 MW of operating assets (821 MW onshore wind and 78 MW solar photovoltaic) and a 1.2 GW pipeline of renewable projects.
Credit Agricole Assurances will own 60% of the operational assets, while Engie will own the remaining 40%. ENGIE will develop and build the pipeline of projects, also provide a complete range of services (O&M, asset management, energy management, and development services) for the full asset scope.
All the renewable energy assets in the portfolio have long-term contracted revenues under the Spanish Renewables regulatory regime. The deal will have a €0.4 billion (~$0.45 billion) net financial debt impact for ENGIE.
“This acquisition of Eolia Renovables, one of the largest renewable players in Spain, is fully in line with our strategy, which is to accelerate our investments in Renewables in our key markets while bringing our industrial and energy management expertise. The transaction will also allow the Group to support Spain in reaching its ambitious renewables and decarbonization goals,” said Catherine MacGregor, CEO at ENGIE.
“This new investment alongside our partner ENGIE will help Crédit Agricole Assurances to strengthen its presence in the energy transition. This acquisition is a new step further in our commitment to helping fight climate change, contributing to our objective to double our investments in renewable energies and reach an 11 GW installed capacity by 2025,” said Philippe Dumont, CEO at Credit Agricole Assurances.
Completion of the transaction is expected by Q1 2022, subject to certain conditions, including merger control clearance from relevant competition authorities.
According to Mercom’s 9M and Q3 2021 Solar Funding and M&A Report, 29 solar M&A transactions were recorded in Q3 2021 compared to 34 M&A transactions in Q2 2021. By comparison, there were 17 transactions in Q3 2020. In 9M 2021, there were 83 transactions compared to 42 transactions in 9M 2020.
