(Montreal) Boralex expands its footprint in Europe with the acquisition of a renewable energy producer in the United Kingdom, of which it was already a partner.
Posted at 12:38 p.m.
The Quebec company acquires Infinergy, which has a portfolio of 338 megawatts (MW) of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Of this portfolio, the equivalent of 232 MW was already 50% owned by Boralex through a joint venture established in 2017.
The amount of the transaction was not disclosed in Monday’s announcement, but analyst Rupert Merer of National Bank Financial believes the purchase of the nine-employee business was completed at a lower price. at 50 million.
The transaction allows Boralex to increase its presence in Europe, a market that has “high potential”, according to the company. “In addition to the Scottish political context that is highly favorable to renewable generation sources, we have identified the UK market as a development target with high potential for the development of onshore wind, solar and energy storage sites”, explains the general manager of Boralex in Europe, Nicolas Wolff.
The announcement is a step towards greater geographic diversification for the Kingsey Falls-based company, Merer said. “This transaction gives Boralex the opportunity to strengthen its European presence outside of France, targeting the United Kingdom, Spain and the Nordic countries. »
The project will give greater control over the future development of Infinergy’s projects as well as all of the revenues related to these projects, underlines analyst Ben Pham, of BMO Capital Markets.
Boralex wants to double its installed capacity compared to 2020 by 2025 to bring it to 4.4 gigawatts (GW) and to double it again by 2030.
Analyst Brent Stadler of Desjardins Capital Markets believes that other acquisitions are on the menu for Boralex. “This is probably the start of M&A activity due to available cash of over 1 billion. »
Around noon, Boralex shares rose 87 cents, or 2.03%, to $43.75 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.