The Japanese trading house, Marubeni Corporation, is having a busy summer: on 5 August, it announced it had agreed to buy at least a 25% stake in Ireland's Mainstream Renewable Power. The USD 133m Mainstream deal will make Marubeni the second-biggest shareholder in the company, which has developed over 19GW of solar and wind projects in seven countries. Yesterday, The Irish Times reported that the Japanese conglomerate could receive additional shares if Mainstream does not sell its North American business before 31 March.
The purchase will be the largest single equity investment in Marubeni's history but will not be its first foray into Europe: it already has business interests in the offshore wind industry and the electricity supply business. On 18 July, Marubeni chairman Teruo Asada told Bloomberg News: “Our target is Europe and a big increase in the US and entry into South America for the IPP business,” referring to the independent power producer model. European energy firms are under pressure from lenders to sell part of their assets and have made offers to Marubeni, he said.
Monty Bannerman
ArcStar Energy
646.402.5076
No comments:
Post a Comment