RWE has agreed to acquire Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses in a transaction that almost doubles the company’s renewables portfolio in the US.
Through the purchase, RWE will add the Con Edison subsidiary’s with about 3GW of operating capacity, of which 90% are solar projects, and a development pipeline of more than 7GW.
Once completed, this will make RWE the fourth biggest renewable energy company and the second largest solar operator in the US.
Combining RWE’s and Con Edison CEB’s highly complementary portfolios almost doubles RWE’s operating asset base in the US to 7.2GW.
The purchase price is based on an enterprise value of $6.8bn, with earnings accretive acquisition increasing EBITDA by around $600 million from year one onward.
At the same time, RWE’s US presence becomes more widely spread across the vast majority of US states. The unique combination of both businesses also leads to a balanced portfolio across onshore wind, solar and batteries.
A combined project pipeline of more than 24GW in onshore wind, solar and batteries provides one of the largest development platforms for renewable energy in the US.
Growth from the acquisition will come on top of RWE’s existing growth plans for the US. RWE had already earmarked up to 15 billion euros gross for investment in the US as part of its Growing Green strategy, which envisages global investments of 50 billion euros gross by 2030.
Con Edison CEB has a strong team of about 500 experts with a long and outstanding track record in developing, constructing and operating renewable energy projects. About 1,400 employees from both companies will form a high-performing team, fully committed to the green energy transition and stepping up RWE’s growth plans in the US in the years to come.
Closing of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to take place in the first half of 2023.
RWE CEO Markus Krebber said: “Our equity capital measure is the basis for financing the acquisition of Con Edison CEB and of the additional green growth in the years to come. I am delighted that QIA is supporting RWE’s accelerated growth ambitions with their capital commitment. This underlines our strategy to be one of leading drivers of the global energy transition.”