Aquila Capital Holding (Aquila Capital), a manager of real asset investments, has entered into a strategic partnership with Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure Co (DEI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Daiwa Securities Group (Daiwa).
The partnership will enable Aquila Capital to further strengthen its position for real asset investments in Europe and capture additional attractive investment opportunities for investors in the Asia-Pacific region.
Roman Rosslenbroich, CEO and co-founder of Aquila Capital, says: “My partner Dieter Rentsch and I are delighted to welcome Daiwa as a shareholder. We will gain a long-term oriented partner who appreciates what we have achieved and wants to preserve the vibrant culture which defines Aquila Capital and help us to expand the business further.
“Since 2001, we believe we have created a remarkable business based on a meritocratic and entrepreneurial culture which has attracted and retained some of the best talents in the industry and built excellent investment capabilities to serve the continuous investor demand for real assets and responsible investments.
“Aquila Capital and Daiwa are building on a long-standing relationship having partnered in Japanese solar investments for several years. The industrial logic, shared vision of the importance of real assets and philosophical fit are exceptional. We are excited about the future and will focus on building on our momentum with international investors and markets.
“Daiwa is a long-term oriented shareholder that provides strong credentials as one of the leading, comprehensive financial service firms in Japan, while we will continue to operate as an investment-focused, independent business and further strengthen our leading market position.”
Aquila Capital manages approximately EUR9.5 billion for a broad range of institutional investors in Europe and Asia. To date, its investments include over 4.2 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity and over 1.3 million square metres of real estate in Europe (as at 31 October 2019). The firm has grown its international presence significantly over the past decade. Daiwa has been investing in renewable energies since 2012. In 2018, Daiwa established DEI in order to accelerate Daiwa’s investments in real asset investments and expand its investment targets to a wider area of industry.
Morimasa Matsuda, President of Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure, says: “We are excited to enter into a strategic partnership with Aquila Capital, a competitive and unique real asset investment company. Through the future collaboration, we will aim at accelerating our business in Europe, with a huge market opportunity in the renewable energy field, learning from the sophisticated PPA markets not depending on grants and public support from the respective government. In addition, we are seeing a growing global demand for sustainable real asset investments, particularly in Japan and Asia. With its expertise and strong track record across renewable energy, Aquila Capital is ideally positioned to serve this investor demand. Together, we will build on this momentum and further accelerate Aquila Capital’s growth.”
DEI will support Aquila Capital in identifying and developing first-rate investment solutions for the Japanese and Asian markets under the Aquila Capital brand through its operative experience and extensive market reach.
Aquila Capital will also benefit from Daiwa’s strong network of institutional clients and will be able to leverage Daiwa’s recognised brand and excellent reputation in the Japanese markets in its marketing efforts.
The agreement with DEI will compliment Aquila Capital’s investment franchise for the region with the highest prospective growth, while guaranteeing its independence. As part of the strategic partnership, DEI will acquire a minority stake of 40% in Aquila Capital. The parties agreed to keep the purchase price confidential. Both founding partners of Aquila Capital, Rosslenbroich and Rentsch, will continue to lead Aquila Capital and hold the majority.
Moelis & Company and Berkshire Global Advisors acted as joint financial advisers to Aquila in relation to the transaction. Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek and Clifford Chance acted as legal advisers to Aquila Capital. Daiwa was advised by CMS Hasche Sigle acting as sole legal adviser to Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure.
