Trans-Tasman company Tilt Renewables has agreed to a NZ$2.94bn (鈧�1.77bn) takeover bid from Powering Australian Renewables (PowAR), a consortium which includes Australia鈥檚 Future Fund and New Zealand company Mercury NZ.
PowAR, a partnership between Australian utility AGL and Queensland state investment manager QIC will buy Tilt鈥檚 Australian business for NZ$2.17bn. Tilt鈥檚 New Zealand operations, including development options, will be sold to Mercury, currently the company鈥檚 second-largest shareholder, at an enterprise value of NZ$770m.
Tilt Renewables鈥� board said it had entered into a scheme implementation agreement with PowAR and Mercury. The bidders will pay a combined price of NZ$2.94bn for the assets at NZ$7.80 per share.
Bruce Harker, chair of Tilt Renewables, said: 鈥淭his compelling acquisition proposal is a result of Tilt Renewables鈥� constant focus on delivering long-term value for shareholders.鈥�
AGL, which created PowAR with QIC and the Future Fund in 2016 as a financing initiative for the development and operation of renewable energy assets, will contribute A$341m to fund its portion of the acquisition of Tilt鈥檚 Australian assets.
鈥淧articipating in this acquisition aligns with AGL鈥檚 climate commitments, and complements our recent acquisitions of Epho and Solgen that have positioned us as Australia鈥檚 largest commercial solar provider,鈥� said AGL CEO, Brett Redman.
AGL currently has an installed capacity of 1,313MW across nine operating wind and solar farms in Australia. It has a 20% interest in PowAR.
Redman said the proposed acquisition would provide more renewable energy options in AGL鈥檚 generation portfolio, further supporting its orderly transition away from coal-fired power and responding to customers鈥� increasing appetite for cleaner energy.
PowAR has entered into a voting deed with infrastructure owner, Infratil, which holds a 65.5% stake in Tilt Renewables, to vote in favour of the scheme.
Mercury CEO, Vince Hawksworth, said: 鈥淭hroughout this transaction, Mercury has worked to keep these New Zealand assets under New Zealand ownership. Completion of this transaction will position Mercury to make an even more significant contribution to New Zealand鈥檚 decarbonisation goals.鈥�
Mercury has owned a 19.9% stake in Tilt Renewables since 2018.
Hawksworth said Tilt鈥檚 New Zealand wind operations combined with its Turitea windfarm 鈥� which was currently under construction 鈥� would represent almost 5% of New Zealand鈥檚 total generation.
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