German energy company EnBW has completed the acquisition of French renewables developer Valeco for an undisclosed price.
Valeco has 276MW of onshore wind and 56MW of solar energy in operation and has a project pipeline of 1.7GW.
It employs around 135 people across the entire value chain in France from development and construction through to operation.
The company is based in Montpellier and also has project development offices in Amiens, Nantes and Toulouse.
The acquisition increases EnBW’s renewables portfolio by 31%, the company said.
EnBW chief executive Frank Mastiaux said: “The acquisition of Valeco marks a significant step forward in the rigorous expansion of EnBW in renewable energy to make them one of the main pillars of the company.
“In addition, the target of reaching 1000 MW of installed capacity in the onshore wind sector by 2020 has now nearly been achieved.
“With Valeco, we now have one of the most experienced players on the French renewable energy market at our side.
“We will exploit the growth opportunities together and become one of the top five players on the French wind and solar market in the medium term as strong partners.”
The previous owners of Valeco were the founding family Gay and the bank Caisse des depots et consignations.
Gay Holding chairman Erick Gay said: “EnBW was the most suitable player for Valeco to continue its story as an independent and integrated player within the French market.
“The steady growth of Valeco was requiring a scale-up in terms of processes and funds to support the impressive pipeline developed over the last years.
“With EnBW, Valeco is now ready to follow on the entrepreneurial adventure launched by my family and turned into one of the main renewable energies French player thanks to its employees.
“I am particularly proud of what we have done with all our stakeholders and wish Valeco, EnBW and its employees the best for their future.”
EnBW said it has invested around €3bn to date in the expansion of renewable energy as part of its strategy EnBW 2020 and plans to invest over €5bn by 2025 in the further growth.