Brookfield signs an agreement to buy France’s Neoen for $6.6 billion

The Canadian company Brookfield BN-T announced on Thursday that, together with Brookfield Renewable Partners and the Singaporean company Temasek Holdings, it has entered into exclusive talks regarding the purchase of a majority stake in the French renewable energy producer Neoen, valuing it at approximately EUR 6.1 billion (6.6 billion dollars).

This transaction is one of the largest take private transactions in Europe this year and results from the great interest of investors in renewable energy assets.

According to a joint statement by the companies, asset manager Brookfield said it was in talks to acquire 53.32% of the shares for 39.85 euros per share from Neoen’s main shareholders, and then the rest of the company for the same price.

The offer price was almost 27% higher than Neoen’s last closing price. Neoen shares reached a price of 31.40 euros on Wednesday, giving the company a market capitalization of around 4.8 billion euros.

“Brookfield’s offer assumes an equity value for 100 percent of the shares of EUR 6.1 billion,” Neoen said in a statement.

Brookfield and partners will buy 42 percent. shares in Neoen, owned by Impala SAS, owned by French billionaire Jacques Veyrat, and the rest from the remaining shareholders of Neoen, an independent renewable energy producer operating in 16 countries.

The statement said Brookfield plans to make an all-cash tender offer for the remainder of Neoen at the same price and take it private once the purchase of a majority stake is finalized.

“Our Board of Directors fully welcomes this transaction,” Xavier Barbaro, president and CEO of Neoen, said in a statement.

Investors are looking to acquire renewable energy assets as part of the global push for the energy transition.

In March, US investment firm KKR & Co submitted a takeover bid for German electricity producer and Encavis for €2.8 billion.

On Tuesday, Energy Capital Partners agreed to buy energy company Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Plc for about $2.56 billion in cash.

The amount of renewable capacity added globally in 2023 increased by 50 percent to almost 510 gigawatts (GW), according to the International Energy Agency, which projects a further increase to 710 GW by 2028.

According to the statement, Brookfield views the investment in Neoen as an opportunity to scale Neoen’s portfolio of diverse, high-quality assets in the context of growing demand for clean energy.

The transaction also came after Singapore’s state investment firm Temasek opened its office in Paris in April. Temasek plans to invest between A$20 billion and A$25 billion ($18.49 billion) in the EMEA region over the next five years, a spokesman said at the opening of an office in Paris.

Founded in 2008, Neoen is one of the world’s largest pure-play renewable energy players, with 8 gigawatts of solar, wind and storage projects in operation or under construction in France, Australia, Ireland, Finland and Sweden, according to its website .

In 2023, it reported revenues of €524.4 million and adjusted net income of €80.4 million. Ultimately, by 2025 it is to reach 10 GW of capacity in operation or under construction.