Gestamp Solar has changed its name to X-Elio following the successful completion of KKR’s acquisition of an 80% stake in the business.
KKR completed the purchase, which was announced in July 2015, following all regulatory approvals, third party consents and customary closing conditions.
The transaction valued X-Elio at a total enterprise value of about $1bn and the company set a target to have up to 2.5GW of installed capacity in operation by 2020.
In Japan, where the company has two plants and 50MW under operation, X-Elio now predicts it will reach as much as 600MW of installed capacity by the end of 2017.
Half of that capacity is likely to come from X-Elio’s own developments, with the other half being added through acquisitions.
Latin America is another key market for X-ELIO and the company has aggregate capacity of approximately 100MW. It is currently developing more than 500MW in Mexico and Chile, and has plans to enter other markets, such as Peru and Colombia.
The company has a 24 MW portfolio of operating projects in the US, and is working to increase the pipeline, either via its own greenfield developments, strategic partnerships with US companies or M&A deals.
X-Elio chief executive officer Jorge Barredo said: “X-Elio combines all the elements that are needed to capture the dramatic increase in demand for solar energy: capital resources to invest in the long term, an entrepreneurial mindset, technology leadership and the ability to scale the business.
“The new name celebrates our heritage and reflects X-Elio’s enormous growth potential with its etymological cornerstones of Ex – meaning ‘out of’ and ‘from’ – and Helios – the god who is the personification of the sun in Greek mythology.”
Image: sun sets on Gestamp Solar name (Gestamp Solar)
