Orsted has entered into an agreement to acquire German and French renewables developer Ostwind, based on an enterprise value of €689m.
The final price will be subject to customary adjustments, Orsted said.
It added that the enterprise value includes financial liabilities of the projects and companies.
Ostwind, headquartered in Regensburg, Germany, and Strasbourg, France, develops, constructs, and manages onshore wind and solar PV projects.
The company has been active in onshore wind development for over 20 years, with a track record of more than 1GW of energised projects across the two countries.
Ostwind has a portfolio of 152MW in operation and under construction, approximately 526MW in advanced development, and about a further 1GW in its development pipeline.
Orsted Onshore chief executive Neil O’Donovan said: “The acquisition of Ostwind is an important step for the strategic expansion of our Onshore business in Europe.
“The company has an impressive proven track record of developing high-quality projects as well as a strong cultural alignment with Orsted, a talented team, and a local community presence – a rare combination that constitutes a strong platform from which we can create value.
“I’m truly excited about Ostwind becoming part of Orsted and for our entrance into two important markets, one of which is already key for our offshore business.
“I expect significant synergies between our onshore and offshore businesses in Germany, both regarding offtake solutions for our customers and combined renewable power capacity for future renewable hydrogen production, and we truly look forward to welcoming the Ostwind team to Orsted.”
Ostwind chief executive Fabien Kayser said: “The entire energy industry is facing a paradigm shift. Renewable generation is no longer a niche, but with a large social consensus the only future of energy supply.
“This presents major opportunities for developers of renewable energy, where we will not only have to think even bigger but also on the energy system as a whole.
“The development of a wind or PV project will have to be expanded in the future to include storage and sales of power and other initiatives related to sector coupling.
“To fully realise these endless opportunities of the future renewable energy system, we’re very happy that we have succeeded in finding a large and very experienced partner in Orsted, who is pursuing the goal of 100% renewable energies with great professionalism.
“I would especially like to thank our employees in Germany and France, most of whom have been with us for many years, without whom Ostwind would not have become what it is today.”
Ostwind’s existing management team will continue to run the business, which will be integrated into Orsted’s onshore business unit over time.
Subject to merger and foreign investment clearances, the transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2022.