LONDON: Vortex Energy, a European renewable energy platform managed by the private equity arm of EFG Hermes, has entered into a sale and purchase agreement to divest a 49% stake in a 998 MW operational wind power portfolio managed and co-owned by EDPR, to institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
Assets included in the sale include 56 operational wind farms with gross capacity of 998 MW spread across Spain, France, Portugal and Belgium.
Karim Moussa, Head of Private Equity and Asset Management, EFG Hermes said:
“The sale of Vortex Energy’s wind assets demonstrates our ability to acquire, manage and exit renewable energy investments on a global scale. We launched Vortex Energy exactly four years ago and have grown to become a prominent renewable energy-focused investment manager in Europe and the UK with a solar and wind portfolio of 822 MW and combined executed transactions in excess of EUR 2.4 billion. We remain highly committed to the clean energy market and are now embarking on a new chapter in Vortex’s growth story.”
Bakr Abdel-Wahab, Head of Energy, EFG Hermes Private Equity, said:
“We are pleased with the outcome of this transaction, which was complex to negotiate and execute in such a compressed timeline. We aggregated and grew this wind portfolio over two substantial investments to become one of the most sizeable wind portfolios in Europe. During our holding period, we returned an attractive cash yield and enhanced shareholders value. We shall continue with our investment and asset management approach to expand the business into new geographies and renewable energy segments”
Matthew LeBlanc, Managing Director, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Infrastructure Investments Group, said:
“We are delighted to acquire the operational wind interests of Vortex Energy, which delivers sustainable, risk-adjusted returns to our investors, which include pension schemes representing over 25 million families. The acquisition builds upon our investment momentum in renewables, complementing our European operational wind platform Ventient Energy, and increases our renewables energy production capacity to over 3.8 GW. We are excited to partner with the EDPR alongside our other renewables businesses to continue to grow a truly pan-European renewables independent power producer.”
The closing of the transaction is subject to the completion of certain conditions precedents.
Vortex’s advisors on the transaction included BofA Merrill Lynch (sell-side M&A advisor), Shearman & Sterling (legal), Linklaters (legal), PwC (financial and tax), DNV GL (technical), Baringa (market).