Repsol has approved a move to sell 25% of its renewable energy business to a Swiss-French consortium, in a deal worth over €900 million (£760m).
The board of the Madrid-headquartered energy major announced on Thursday that it had approved the sale of a 25% stake in Repsol Renewables to a consortium of French insurance company Crédit Agricole Assurances and Switzerland-based Energy Infrastructure Partner (EIP).
The deal would value the business at just under €4.4 billion (£3.75bn), including debt and minority holdings.
The acquisition includes an investment commitment from the new partners, which the company says will support its goal of reaching 6GW of installed capacity by 2025, bolstered by plans to enter new markets and add additional technologies such as offshore wind.
Longer-term, the group intends to reach installed capacity targets of 20 GW by 2030.
Its current portfolio includes over 1.6 GW of renewable capacity and sizable development pipelines in Spain, the US and Chile, alongside its participation in the WindFloat offshore wind project in Portugal.
Repsol said the sale of the had generated “great interest” amongst investors, with “top-tier entities” submitting bids during the process.
“Having reputed partners such as Crédit Agricole Assurances and EIP joining us in Repsol Renovables represents a validation of our renewable strategy, supports our ambition to be a key player in the energy transition and fulfills our expectations in this important process,” said Repsol CEO Josu Jon Imaz.
Effective from January 1, 2022, the deal is expected to close during Q4 of this year, subject to the regulatory approval.
Under the terms of the shareholder agreement, Repsol will continue to control the business.
Crédit Agricole Assurances CEO Philippe Dumont added: “Fully in line with Crédit Agricole Group’s commitments in favour of the climate, Crédit Agricole Assurances is actively contributing to a low-carbon economy through its investments in the energy transition. This investment alongside Repsol and EIP is a new step, contributing to reach our objective of 14 GW of installed capacity by 2025.”
“Working together with Repsol will support us in realizing our ambitious growth plans and further expanding EIP’s footprint in the Americas,” added EIP co-head of investments, Peter Schümers.
According to reports, Repsol is also weighing up a separate deal to spin-off a similarly sized stake in its upstream business to EIG.
The Washington D.C.-headquartered equity investor is looking to acquire up to 25% of the energy major’s upstream business, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing three sources with knowledge of the matter.
