Orsted has entered into an agreement with Brookfield Renewable to acquire a 100% equity interest in the latter’s existing Ireland and UK onshore wind business.
The agreement to buy Brookfield Renewable Ireland (BRI) is based on an enterprise valuation €571m as of 31 December 2020.
The final price will be subject to customary adjustments, Orsted said.
The acquisition will see Orsted enter the European onshore market.
BRI is headquartered in Cork, Ireland and has a portfolio of 389MW in operation and under construction, 149MW at advanced development and a more than 1GW development pipeline.
BRI’s existing management team will continue to run the business, which will be integrated into Orsted’s onshore business unit over time.
The transaction is expected to close by the second quarter of 2021.
Orsted group president and chief executive Mads Nipper said: “In the US, we’ve built a strong onshore business with 4 GW in operation and under construction.
“The European market for onshore wind power is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, and with the acquisition of BRI, we get a strong platform that expands our presence in onshore renewables to Europe, allowing us to continue our successful expansion of our onshore renewables business.”
Orsted onshore business unit chief executive Declan Flanagan said: “We’re excited to acquire BRI, which has a strong strategic and operational fit to Orsted combined with what we believe to be very complementary business cultures.
“We’ve learned that, like Orsted, the BRI team is ambitious, prioritise safety and quality, and strive to be a good neighbour in the communities they operate in.
“The Irish and UK onshore markets offer attractive fundamentals, projects at scale, and value creation through a mix of development projects and repowering opportunities.
“Furthermore, we can leverage the BRI team’s market-leading off take capabilities within trading and corporate PPAs with direct synergies to Orsted’s existing efforts in the UK.”
Orsted said the announcement does not change its previous EBITDA guidance for the financial year 2021.
Subject to closing of the transaction, the expected investment level for 2021 will increase with the purchase price.