Tidal player Atlantis Resources is to become part of GFG Alliance and be renamed Simec Atlantis Energy in a reverse takeover deal.
Atlantis will acquire GFG subsidiary Simec Energy’s 363MW mothballed Uskmouth co-firing plant in south Wales and in return Simec will own a 49.99% share of Atlantis.
The acquisition constitutes a reverse takeover of Atlantis under AIM rules.
Share trading in Atlantis has been suspended pending shareholder approval of the deal expected to be completed in first quarter 2018.
Simec Atlantis Energy will convert two 131MW Uskmouth units to become a 220MW end-of-waste energy pellet power plant due online in 2020.
The plant will sell all its power to GFG Alliance companies under two 20-year power purchase agreements.
The deal will also give Simec the option to take a stake in Atlantis’s tidal stream and barrage portfolio, including the MeyGen project in the Pentland Firth and the Wyre barrage project in Lancashire.
Atlantis chief executive Tim Cornelius said: “The partnership with Simec and the broader GFG Alliance will enable us to accelerate our growth and the diversity of our business.
“The establishment of a formal and long term relationship with Simec and the GFG Alliance will be transformational for our company as we seek to create a diversified renewable energy platform of scale.”
Simec chief investment officer Jay Hambro added: “We are particularly excited about this opportunity to expand our investment in the tidal power sector which we see as a game-changing technology that holds huge possibilities for cheap, clean power in the future.
“This is also a major step towards our ambition to create 1 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity in the UK within the next three years.”
Image: AR1500 at MeyGen 1A (Atlantis)
