Antonio Brufau, Chairman of Repsol and the CEO, Josu Jon Imaz, at the Repsol headquarters. Pablo Monge
With a wallet full from the good performance of its business in recent quarters, the oil company Repsol takes another step in its transition from crude oil and gas to renewables.
The Spanish energy company announced this Friday the purchase of Asterion Energies, owner of a portfolio of 7.7 gigawatts (GW) of green projects in Europe, for 560 million euros plus a maximum of 20 million for payments linked to park objectives of solar and wind power under development.
The operation is subject to the usual approvals in this type of transaction.
The firm, created just three years ago, has 4.9 GW of photovoltaic power and another 2.8 GW of wind power, of which 2.5 GW are in an "advanced state of development or under construction."
Most of this portfolio is in Spain (84%).
The rest, in Italy (12%) and France (4%).
All of them markets - as emphasized by Repsol in the statement sent to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) - "stable and with great potential".
With this step, the oil company is ahead of several giants in the sector that had shown interest in Asterion, based in Madrid and which had been holding the "for sale" sign for months.
"The operation is an important milestone in Repsol's ambition to become a global player in renewable energy," underlines the company led by Josu Jon Imaz.
“In addition, Asterion Energies has an expert team in the development of renewable and storage projects that will join the ambitious growth project in this business.
The projects and human talent that we incorporate with this transaction perfectly complement our strategy”.
Repsol's latest strategic plan, launched at the end of 2020, plans to reach 6 GW of installed capacity in 2025 and reach 20 GW in 2030. Currently, before the incorporation of Asterion Energies, it has 1.6 GW of installed capacity, the majority in Spain and, to a much lesser extent, in the United States, Chile and Portugal;
and with another 2 GW under construction.
In the operation, one of the most important in the renewable energy sector in the Iberian Peninsula this year, the Spanish oil company has had the advice of Banco Santander.
The selling party, Asterion Industrial Partners, has leaned on Greenhill.
Last June, Repsol sold 25% of its renewables subsidiary to EIP and Crédit Agricole for 905 million euros.
Just three months later, he got rid of an identical share of his oil and gas business in exchange for 4,850 million.
And it announced that it would allocate the money to reduce debt and, above all, grow in wind and solar.
Said and done.