Billionaire investor Guy Hands is set to take Infinis private in a deal that values the windfarm developer at £555million.
Infinis chairman Ian Marchant, who occupies the same post at Wood Group, agreed to the deal citing a “challenging regulatory and political environment” that has “adversely affected both the cash generation and the growth prospects” of the firm.
Hands’s buyout firm Terra Firma Capital Partners already owns 68.5% of Infinis and will pay 185p in cash for each outstanding share − a 40% premium on yesterday’s close.
The move comes just two years after the firm made its debut on the London Stock Exchange at 260p per share – giving it a value of £780million.
Infinis raised £234million in its initial public offering with Terra Firma retaining a majority.
The Edinburgh- and Northampton-based company, which employs 365 people across 137 operating sites, operates seven windfarms across Scotland, two of which are in the north-east, at Gordonstown and Hill of Fiddes.
Its operating wind portfolio has capacity of 274 megawatts, and it also produces electricity from landfill gas.
But Infinis had the rug pulled from under it when the Conservative Party secured a majority in the General Election and launched an attack on financial support for renewable energy, which it considers to be an unstable power source.
In June, the UK Government kicked subsidies for new onshore windfarms into touch.
It followed that up a month later by scrapping the Climate Change Levy (CCL) exemption, which allows businesses not to pay the environmental tax levied on energy if it has come from renewable power.
At the time, Infinis said the removal of the tax breaks had come as a bolt from the blue and would cost it £7million by March, an announcement that sent its shares down 7.8% in one day.
Mr Hands said in yesterday’s statement: “We have considered gradual sell-downs of our interest in the company since its IPO in November 2013 and more recently we have also explored other strategic options, but the change in the regulatory environment for Infinis has prompted us to rethink our strategy.”
He said the deal would give Terra Firm a chance to “pursue alternative options to monetize its investment in Infinis”.
The deal to take the Infinis private is expected to be wrapped up by the end of the year.