AXA Private Equity, the leading European diversified private equity firm, and Tozzi Group, the industrial company have entered into a joint venture to invest in the Italian solar energy sector. The joint venture, TRE Solar S.r.l., acts as a holding company and invests in Italian solar farms.
The TRE Solar joint venture is the latest development of the long-term partnership between AXA Private Equity and Tozzi Group. The partnership was formed in 2007 to invest in renewables. AXA Private Equity will hold a 65% stake in the TRE Solar joint venture and Tozzi Group will own the remaining 35%.
The TRE Solar joint venture’s seed investment will be the acquisition of three solar farms in Italy with a total capacity of 38MW. Two projects with a capacity of 10.2 MW in the Puglia region are already operational, the third project in the Emilia-Romagna region is currently under construction. The agreed target is to achieve a minimum capacity of 120MW by 2012. All three solar farms have been acquired from the Tozzi Group.
Mathias Burghardt (pictured), Head of Infrastructure at AXA Private Equity, says: “We are seeing an increasing number of interesting and well-priced investment opportunities in the Italian solar energy sector. We have therefore made the decision to broaden our existing strategic partnership with Tozzi Group to take advantage of these opportunities for our investors.”
Franco Tozzi, Chairman of Tozzi Group, says: “This is an important development for Tozzi Group. We have benefited from AXA Private Equity’s extensive infrastructure investment experience for the last four years and it is exciting to extend the partnership into the solar energy market. The TRE Solar joint venture demonstrates the partnership’s leading position in renewable energy in Italy and Europe.”
With more than 438 MW in operation in onshore wind farms, hydroelectric projects and now solar farms, AXA Private Equity and Tozzi Group are together among the leading owners and operators of renewable energy assets in Italy.
