Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) has announced that its fund, Global Infrastructure Partners II (GIP II), has agreed to establish a strategic partnership with Spanish infrastructure developer ACS.
The GIP II/ACS partnership will consist of two principal components:
acquisition by GIP II of up to a 24.4% ownership interest in Saeta Yield S.A. (Saeta) which owns 688 MW of operating wind and solar assets in Spain, and
acquisition of a 49% stake in another company which will own the remaining 460 MW of assets located in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Uruguay and Peru and will be responsible for future development of renewable energy assets around the globe
The Saeta yieldco has filed its intention to launch an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares. Upon the successful completion, GIP II and ACS will each own up to an approximate 24.5% stake in the listed firm.
According to sources, ACS is targeting a valuation of about €1 billion (US$1.15 billion) for its unit. The Saeta portfolio specifically includes:
16 wind farms with a combined capacity of 539 MW and
three concentrating solar power (CSP) parks totalling 150 MW.
Going forward, this new GIP/ACS development partnership will have a right of first offer (ROFO) option to ACS’ development pipeline of renewable energy assets.
GIP’s investment is contingent on the successful completion of Saeta’s IPO.
Commenting on this announcement, Adebayo Ogunlesi, Chairman and Managing Partner of GIP stated:
“We are excited about the possibilities offered by this strategic partnership with ACS, a recognized leader in renewable energy development and one of the world’s leading construction companies. This is an outstanding opportunity to combine the world class industrial and renewable energy development experience of ACS with GIP’s renewable energy sector expertise and business model of value added infrastructure investment.”