NEW YORL & SKÆRBÆK, Denmark: Ørsted entered into an agreement today with I Squared Capital and management shareholders to acquire a 100 percent equity interest in Lincoln Clean Energy LLC (LCE) for an enterprise valuation of USD 580 million.
LCE is a leading U.S.-based developer, owner and operator of wind farms. Since I Squared Capital acquired a 90 percent stake in the company in 2015, with the management team owning the remaining 10 percent, LCE has developed and built over 500 MW of operating capacity, is constructing another 300 MW onshore wind project, and has a pipeline of more than 1.5 GW expected to be completed by 2022.
Ørsted is the world leader in offshore wind and in February 2018 announced plans to invest in other renewable energy technologies to reinforce its position in renewable energy.
Ole Kjems Sørensen, EVP at Ørsted and Head of Partnerships, M&A & Asset Management, says, “The U.S. is a leading market in renewable energy generation. We are delighted to announce this transaction, which will provide Ørsted with a strong growth platform in one of Ørsted’s strategic growth markets. With the acquisition of LCE, we acquire an attractive portfolio with a good mix of operating and development capacity. We have been impressed with the skills and ambition of the LCE team and we believe I Squared Capital has supported the business well in bringing it to its current market position. We look forward to working with LCE’s highly experienced and successful team in further developing this attractive business.”
Adil Rahmathulla, Partner of I Squared Capital, commented, “We are proud to have worked with Declan Flanagan and his outstanding team to build LCE into the largest non-utility owner of U.S. wind commissioned in 2017. We wish the team every continued success and congratulate Ørsted on the transaction.”
Declan Flanagan, founder and CEO of LCE, says, “I have long admired Ørsted for their leadership in offshore wind power. The team and I at LCE look forward to replicating that leadership in onshore wind in the U.S. I also want to thank I Squared Capital for their deep financial and operating expertise and commitment to LCE during what has been a period of rapid and successful growth.”
LCE’s existing management team will continue to run the business, which will be a separate unit outside of Ørsted’s Wind Power business.
The transaction is subject to approval by the U.S. competition authorities and is expected to close prior to the end of 2018.
About I Squared Capital
I Squared Capital is an independent global infrastructure investment manager focusing on energy, utilities, telecommunications and transport in the Americas, Europe and Asia. The firm has offices in Hong Kong, Houston, London, Miami, New Delhi, New York and Singapore.
About Ørsted
As the world’s leading developer of offshore wind farms, Ørsted has installed 5.1 GW offshore wind capacity in Europe and has a further 3.8 GW under construction. It is Ørsted’s ambition to have installed a total offshore wind capacity of 11-12 GW worldwide by 2025.
Ørsted entered the U.S. in 2015 and sees the U.S. renewables market as an attractive, strategic growth opportunity.
- Ørsted holds the right to develop Bay State Wind and Ocean Wind, in total up to 4 GW of potential offshore wind capacity.
- In Virginia, Ørsted will be constructing two 6 MW wind turbines for phase one of Dominion Energy’s Coastal Offshore Wind Project. The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding giving Ørsted exclusive rights to discuss potential development of up to 2 GW of offshore wind capacity.
- In addition, Ørsted is active in battery storage and solar development and last year established a presence in Austin, Texas, to lead those efforts.
About Lincoln Clean Energy
- LCE is a leading developer of U.S. onshore wind projects with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Austin, Texas.
- Founded in 2009 by CEO Declan Flanagan, LCE has developed over 1.8 GW of renewable power projects in California, New Jersey and Texas. In 2017, LCE was the largest non-utility wind developer in the U.S.1
- LCE owns a portfolio of 513 MW recently commissioned wind and solar assets2 and 300 MW of under construction wind assets located primarily in Texas. All projects are fully contracted with long-term offtake agreements with high quality counterparties.
- LCE also owns more than 1.5 GW of development projects spread across the wind-rich U.S. markets of ERCOT, SPP and MISO.
1 Source: AWEA.
2 The operating portfolio includes 10 MW of solar PV.
