22 December 2017
Terra Firma has reached an agreement to sell the development pipeline of US-based wind energy development and generation company EverPower to German energy company innogy SE. This follows the sale of EverPower’s operational assets to a fund managed by BlackRock earlier this month, and concludes Terra Firma’s successful exit from the business.
EverPower’s development pipeline offers more than 2GW of wind development opportunity, with the potential for more than 500MW to come online through 2020. As well as the pipeline, innogy has acquired EverPower’s core team of wind project developers, as well as the strong growth platform built up by EverPower in recent years.
The decision to divide EverPower’s portfolio reflects the strength of each unit and delivers the highest value to investors. The separate sale of the development pipeline created a unique opportunity for innogy as a strategic investor actively looking to deploy capital in the sector.
Terra Firma has been a long-term investor in EverPower, first investing in 2009. Under Terra Firma’s ownership, EverPower has been transformed into a top 25 US wind energy producer. As well as successfully building out sites from the development pipeline, Terra Firma has helped the business grow through acquisition. In 2012 EverPower purchased the 150MW Mustang Hills wind farm in Tehachapi, California, and followed this with the acquisition of the 240MW Big Sky wind farm in Illinois in 2014.
EverPower’s operating capacity has grown 12x since Terra Firma’s original investment, and its portfolio contains seven sites totalling 752MW of generating capacity.
Andrew Géczy, Chief Executive Officer of Terra Firma, said:
“I’m pleased to announce that this transaction successfully concludes Terra Firma’s investment in EverPower. Under our ownership, the company has grown operating capacity 12-fold to become a top 25 wind energy producer in the US.
“Our strategy for EverPower in recent years has been to actively focus on advancing the development pipeline. The sale of the operational assets to BlackRock earlier this month combined with the agreed sale of the development pipeline to innogy demonstrates our ability to execute successful business transformation and is evidence of our ability to generate maximum value for our investors through a creative approach.”
Hans Bünting, COO Renewables of innogy SE, adds:
“The US market is one of our key strategic growth areas for renewables. Establishing our subsidiary, Innogy Renewables US LLC, in 2016 was our first step to enter this market. The acquisition of EverPower’s impressive pipeline is a logical step consistent with our commitment. We are very pleased to have made our first acquisition in the US. And this is just the beginning.”
Jim Spencer, Chief Executive Officer of EverPower, said:
“This very successful transaction is a validation of EverPower’s expertise as a best in class development company. I am confident that innogy will ultimately construct many of the projects in our development pipeline, as a result of the strong growth platform built in recent years.”
Barclays and KeyBanc acted as financial advisors and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP acted as legal advisor to the seller.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in Q2 2018.