RWE has increased its share capital by €2bn and will use the proceeds to expand its renewables investments beyond previously stated plans.
Proceeds from the capital increase will be invested in additional short-term capacity build-out, RWE said, as well as further visible mid- and long-term growth opportunities in renewables, on top of the company’s plan to grow its renewables portfolio to more than 13GW and to invest €5bn by the end of 2022.
Some of the cash will be used to finance the planned acquisition and realisation of the 2.7GW project pipeline from Nordex, announced on 31 July 2020.
RWE chief executive Rolf Martin Schmitz (pictured) said: “We are very pleased how well our offer was accepted and how our growth ambition in renewable energy is being supported by our investors.
“The additional financial flexibility enables us to enhance our project pipeline and to accelerate our continued growth in wind and solar power. At the same time, we underline RWE’s position as one of the global leading companies in renewable energy.”
RWE raised the funds by selling new shares at a price of €32.55 per share following an accelerated book-built offering to institutional investors only.
They are entitled to the dividend for fiscal year 2020.
The company’s share capital was increased by 10% by using part of the authorised capital by issuing about 61.5 million new ordinary bearer shares against cash contributions and with the exclusion of subscription rights.
RWE chief finance officer Markus Krebber said: “The current market environment allowed for a successful equity raising at attractive valuation levels for our shareholders.
“RWE, having already a solid financial basis, stands for promising growth perspectives in our renewables business with attractive returns and a reliable dividend target: We stick to our plan to increase our dividend for fiscal 2020 to €0.85 per share and to continuously grow dividend payments in line with the development of earnings in our core business.”
The delivery of the new shares to investors is scheduled for 24 August 2020.