(Bloomberg) — Enel SpA agreed to sell a minority stake in
a newly formed partnership holding its U.S. renewable energy
assets to General Electric Co. for $440 million.
GE Energy Financial Services is buying 49 percent of EGPNA
Renewable Energy Partners LLC, according to an e-mailed
statement Tuesday. Enel Green Power SpA, a unit of Rome-based
Enel, will maintain 51 percent though Enel Green Power North
America.
The partnership has assets in North America with 760
megawatts of generating capacity, including a 200-megawatt wind
farm under construction, according to the statement. It will
maintain those power plants, and GE’s investment unit will have
the first option to invest in additional projects for three
years.
Other energy producers have created such partnerships,
known as yieldcos, to hold and operate power plants. The
structure helps growing companies access capital and offers
investors dividends with long-term contracts and steady returns.
“This partnership brings together two complementary
leaders with a common view on the future of renewables
development,” Francesco Venturini, chief executive officer of
Enel Green Power, said in the statement.
Enel Chief Executive Officer Francesco Starace said in
February the company would not seek to publicly list the
yeildco.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Justin Doom in New York at
jdoom1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
Jim Efstathiou Jr., Robin Saponar