Axa Private Equity, the European diversified private equity house, has finalised the acquisition of Babcock & Brown International Group’s wind assets in France.
Axa Private Equity, the European diversified private equity house, has finalised the acquisition of Babcock & Brown International Group’s wind assets in France.
The transaction enables Axa Private Equity to acquire, through its infrastructure fund, one of the most important wind farm platforms in France. The platform comprises 15 wind farms with a total capacity of 163 MW, which are mainly situated within a 300km radius to the north, west and south of Paris.
Axa Private Equity has acquired 100 per cent of Kallista Energies Renouvelables (formerly called Enersis Energies Renouvelables) and Kallista France (formerly called Enersis France), which will be held through Holding Energies Renouvelables, a holding company dedicated to renewable energy investments in France, with which the firm plans to make further investments.
This particular purchase complements investments already made by Axa Private Equity in the renewable energy sector in Italy in the first half of 2009. These earlier investments were made alongside the Italian renewable energy experts, Tozzi Group, through a joint venture holding company, TRE & Partners.
The existing management team, headed by Frédéric Roche, will be kept in place by Axa Private Equity. They will manage and develop the platform, with the aim of reinforcing its position in the French wind market and opening it up to new technologies.
Axa Private Equity has been supported by Saur, the third-largest water services company in France, in which it holds a 17 per cent shareholding. Saur has many years of experience in the renewable sector. It is anticipated that this latest transaction will open the way for further collaborations between Saur and Axa Private Equity in this sector.
Mathias Burghardt, head of infrastructure at Axa Private Equity, says: ‘We are continuing to take advantage of the favourable investment conditions which prevail in the infrastructure market. This transaction is part of a strategy to build a portfolio of diversified assets in order to become a major player in the European renewable energy sector. It also demonstrates Axa Private Equity’s ability to establish cooperative relations with its industrial partners such as the Tozzi Group and also Saur, who helped us to carry out this transaction.’
Since 2005, the infrastructure team at Axa Private Equity has invested over USD950m in eight transactions in the transport, energy, water distribution, and waste treatment sectors in France, the UK and Italy.
