Swedish developer Arise has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Finnish onshore wind and solar company Pohjan Voima Oy.
Under the deal Arise will acquire a 51% controlling interest in the company and provide financing to continue developing Pohjan Voima’s project portfolio.
In addition, Arise will also provide advisory services to support the company in preparing for the realisation of the project portfolio.
The purchase price for the shares amounts to €12m at closing with an additional purchase price of up to €18m payable upon achievement of certain project milestones.
The transaction is expected to close in April 2023.
Pohjan Voima has developed a well-diversified portfolio of onshore wind and solar projects across Finland.
The current portfolio size is approximately 1.7GW which includes 1GW of wind projects where land use planning and environmental impact assessment processes are ongoing and 700MW of wind and solar projects at pre-planning stage.
The company is working actively to grow the portfolio and is also assessing battery storage opportunities.
Arise’s chief executive Per-Erik Eriksson said: “This move marks a very important step in realising our strategy of diversifying our operations both geographically and technologically.
“Finland is a very attractive market, and we are eager to develop and realize the numerous high-quality projects together with our new partners at Pohjan Voima.
“Concluding this transaction has materially increased Arise’s developments, with 600MW of Pohjan Voima’s portfolio classed as late-stage projects which we are targeting to reach Ready-to-Build status by 2025.”
Pohjan Voima’s chief executive Tomi Mäkipelto added: “This strategic partnership secures new financing for developing our projects and will enable us to grow our platform.
“Moreover, we now have access to Arise’s extensive expertise and resources, which will be of critical importance as we get closer to the procurement and realization of the projects.
“There is a very good fit between our respective teams, and we look forward to learning from each other.”
Pohjan Voima will continue to be led by the company’s founders Tomi Mäkipelto and Juho Rönni, who will also remain significant shareholders.
The Finnish mutual insurance company LocalTapiola invested in Pohjan Voima in 2021 and will also continue as a shareholder.
Arise is already active in the Finnish renewables market through its asset management business and has a 219MW wind power asset management agreement with BlackRock.