Spanish energy company Acciona is planning an initial public offering (IPO) for its energy business unit.
Acciona said it is studying the modification of its corporate structure to give greater visibility to its strategic business lines, reduce its cost of capital and strengthen its balance sheet.
The company said green transition programmes around the world are generating record demand for sustainable infrastructure and, in particular, clean energy.
In addition, it added, different countries are launching green recovery plans with the same focus, while there is growing interest from the international investment community in companies that meet the strictest environmental, social and corporate governance criteria.
“These circumstances create a great opportunity for additional growth for Acciona over the next decade,” the company said.
“In this context, the creation of a differentiated listed vehicle, which integrates the company’s clean energy assets, would meet market demands and foster Acciona’s growth, with the aim of doubling its current total installed energy capacity by 2025, while freeing up resources for the development of other strategic businesses such as water, real estate and urban mobility,” it said.
Acciona expects the IPO to take place this year, if market conditions are permitting.
The new company would include the entire energy business, excluding Acciona’s stake in wind turbine manufacturer Nordex.
It said the size and structure of the transaction is yet to be defined, but the free float would at least be 25% of the capital of the new listed company.
Acciona will maintain a majority stake in the company, which would be listed on the Spanish stock exchange, although the definitive market has not yet been decided.
In 2020, the energy division was hit by lower wholesale power prices in its home country last year, resulting earnings and revenue both falling.
EBITDA dropped 6.7% to €831m, while revenue was down almost 11% to €1.78bn.
Revenue were more than 14% lower in Spain, where wholesale prices fell by over 29% to €33.96 a megawatt-hour.
Consolidated capacity increased by 578MW last year, with 485MW of wind power added in the US, Mexico, Chile and Australia.
A further 94MW of solar was installed in Chile.
In Spain, the 1MW Sierra Brava floating solar plant, the country’s first floating photovoltaic plant, was connected to the grid, Acciona said.
Overall, Acciona’s energy business unit invested €595m in 2020.
At the end of the year, Acciona had 10.69GW of installed capacity, 53% in Spain and 47% in the rest of the world, with a total annual production of 24,075 gigawatt-hours.