Suzlon in talks to sell 300 MW of wind power assets
The wind power assets that Suzlon wants to sell are part of Skeiron Renewable Energy, a renewable energy platform that it set up with private equity investors Olympus Capital and Asia Climate Partners
Mumbai: Suzlon Energy Ltd, which is exploring the sale of 300 megawatts (MW) of wind power assets, has hired an investment bank to manage the process, said two people aware of the development.
The assets are part of Skeiron Renewable Energy, a renewable energy platform set up by Suzlon along with private equity investors Olympus Capital and Asia Climate Partners, said one of the two people, requesting anonymity.
In January 2017, Mint had reported that Suzlon was set to raise Rs800 crore ($120 million) from Asia Climate Partners and Olympus Capital Asia to create a renewable energy platform.
“They have recently appointed investment bank Kotak Mahindra Capital to explore the sale of the assets housed under the Skeiron platform, which currently holds around 300MW of wind power assets, both developed and under development,” said the person cited above.
However, the talks are at an initial stage and might not necessarily result in the proposed sale, the person added.
“We deny any such development, it is baseless and speculative,” said a spokesperson for Skeiron.
Olympus Capital declined to comment on the development. Emails queries to Asia Climate Partners and Kotak Mahindra Capital did not elicit any response till the time of publishing this report.
Over the past couple of years, the renewable energy sector has witnessed several transactions.
In April, Goldman Sachs-backed ReNew Power Ventures Pvt. Ltd had acquired rival Ostro Energy Pvt. Ltd, the company that holds the 1.1GW of renewable energy assets of buyout firm Actis Capital, in a Rs10,000-crore deal.
With the acquisition, ReNew Power’s capacity exceeded 5.6GW, making it the largest renewable power producer in the country.
In 2016, Tata Power Co. Ltd had acquired Welspun Renewables Energy Pvt. Ltd in a $1.38 billion transaction.
On 21 May, Mint had reported that Tata Power Ltd and Actis LLP were in separate talks to buy the solar power business of Subhash Chandra’s Essel Infraprojects Ltd.
The interest from the Indian power producer and the UK-based private equity fund makes it a four-horse race for Essel’s solar power assets, which are spread across Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Karnataka.
Greenko Group and Hero Future Energies Pvt. Ltd are already vying for these assets.
In April, Reuters had reported that Actis was close to signing a deal to buy the solar power portfolio of Indian conglomerate Shapoorji Pallonji. The acquisition of Shapoorji’s 400MW solar power portfolio will be done through Sprng Energy, a renewable platform owned by Actis, at an equity valuation of about $168 million.
Other renewable assets on sale include Orange Renewable, owned by Singapore-based AT Capital Group. Sembcorp Industries Ltd has evinced interest in buying it.
The Indian renewable energy sector has also witnessed huge interest from private capital investors.
In March, US-based infrastructure investor Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) acquired the infrastructure funds managed by IDFC Alternatives, which included Vector Green Energy, a renewable energy platform.
In January, GIP acquired Equis Energy, a pan-Asia renewable platform for an enterprise value of $5 billion.
In India, Equis Energy owned 974 MW of wind and solar power assets, developed and under development.
Other investors that have taken a bet on the Indian renewable sector include Canadian pension funds Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, or CPPIB, and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, as well as sovereign wealth funds Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Singapore’s GIC.
The Indian renewable energy sector has also witnessed huge interest from private capital investors.
Source: livemint
