Brookfield Asset Management’s flagship listed renewable power business has invested $500m (€443m) to buy a 50% stake in Spanish solar projects developer X-Elio.
Brookfield Renewable Partners said it is investing the amount to buy a 30% stake in X-Elio from KKR’s 80% interest, and will also buy Acek’s 20% stake.
KKR’s Global Infrastructure Investors II fund acquired its 80% stake in the solar energy company in July 2015.
X-Elio currently has 273MW of operating capacity, 1,413MW under construction and a broader 4,800MW development pipeline across major solar markets including Spain, the US, Mexico, Chile and Japan.
Sachin Shah, CEO of Brookfield Renewable, said: “This is a unique opportunity to invest in a high-quality portfolio of operating assets including a near-term pipeline of construction assets with an experienced management team, integrated development platform and best-in-class contracting capabilities.
“This investment allows us to grow our solar capabilities to include global solar development and offers another meaningful growth lever for our business.”
Tara Davies, member and head of European infrastructure at KKR, said: “We’re looking forward to working alongside Brookfield and building on our close relationship with X-Elio’s management to help the business progress to the next stage of its growth.
“Our continued commitment to X-Elio builds on our strong track record of developing renewable energy assets and investing behind the global renewable energy transition.”
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2019.
