Ardian Infrastructure today announced it has acquired an 81% stake in four Solarpack solar PV plants in South America. Three of the plants are in the north of Chile and one is in the south of Peru. The deal also sees Ardian taking a minority stake in Solarpack and occupying a seat on its board of directors.
Solarpack will continue to handle the plants’ operations, maintenance and day-to-day asset management to maximize the financial return of the assets. The plants have a combined installed capacity of 46 MW, with the three plants in Chile totaling 26.5 MW and the plant in Peru boasting 19.4 MW.
For Ardian, this transaction follows recent investments in greenfield wind projects in Norway and Sweden, which took place in January and June 2016, respectively. The company is a major player in the renewable energy sector, with 1GW of installed capacity across wind, solar, hydraulic, biogas and biomass.
For Solarpack, the transaction provides extra liquidity to build new projects and further demonstrates its capacity to develop PV plants that are attractive to leading investors such as Ardian. Solarpack is planning to build 125 MW of new PV plants in the next six months.
Mathias Burghardt, Head of Ardian Infrastructure, said: “This first investment in South America is a perfect illustration of our ability to source attractive investment opportunities in Europe and in the American continent thanks to our industrial partners. Renewable energy is undoubtedly the energy for the future and we are committed to stand as a leading player at world scale.”
Juan Angoitia, Managing Director at Ardian Infrastructure, said: “We are very pleased of this agreement, which forges a strong industrial partnership with Solarpack. Beyond these projects, we have identified new investment opportunities alongside in different geographies.”
Pablo Burgos, CEO of Solarpack, said: “This agreement is proof that our business model in solar pv works. We are proud to serve Ardian as a new customer for our operation, maintenance and asset management services, while remaining as minority shareholders in the plants. Moreover, the incorporation of Ardian as a shareholder in Solarpack strengthens the balance sheet of the company as we undertake the development of new projects, and sets a path for future collaboration.”
ABOUT ARDIAN
Ardian, founded in 1996 and led by Dominique Senequier, is an independent private investment company with assets of $55bn managed or advised in Europe, North America and Asia.
The company, which is majority owned by its employees, keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and delivers investment performance to its global investors while fuelling growth in economies across the world. Ardian’s investment process embodies three values: excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship.
Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 430 employees working through twelve offices in Paris, London, Frankfurt, Milan, Madrid, Zurich, New York, San Francisco, Beijing, Singapore, Jersey and Luxembourg. The company offers its 490 investors a diversified choice of funds covering the full range of asset classes through Ardian Funds of Funds (comprising primary, early secondary and secondary activities), Ardian Private Debt, Ardian Direct Funds (comprising Ardian Mid Cap Buyout, Ardian Expansion, Ardian Growth and Ardian Co-Investment), Ardian Infrastructure, Ardian Real Estate and customized mandate solutions with Ardian Mandates.
ABOUT SOLARPACK
Solarpack is a Spanish multinational company specializing in the development, construction and operation of solar PV plants. The company’s team of more than 100 professionals is developing a pipeline of more than 1.2 GW.
The company has commissioned 35 MWp in five sites in Spain, 37 MWp in Chile, 26 MWp in Uruguay and 62 MWp in Peru. Solarpack performs the operation and maintenance of the plants it develops, and manages own and third-party assets for a total of 230 MW.