Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Eolia Renovables de Inversiones, S.C.R., S.A (Eolia Renovables), a leading independent power producer in the Spanish renewable energy sector from funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. (Oaktree) and other shareholders. The transaction is expected to close in the coming months.

AIMCo’s investment in Eolia Renovables provides its clients exposure to a company that owns a large portfolio of renewable energy assets with long-term revenues contracted under the Spanish regulatory regime, as well as, a pipeline of potential development opportunities in Spain.

Eolia Renovables focuses on the development, construction and operation of onshore wind farms and solar photovoltaic plants. The company currently has a portfolio of 38 assets with a net attributable capacity of approximately 669 megawatts.

Jessamy Gallagher, Corporate partner at Linklaters, says:
 

    “As discussed in our recent report, increasing deal pressures in the core infrastructure market – record available capital, new market entrants, higher valuations and reduced rates of return allowed by regulators – have encouraged some investors to look at higher-yielding non-core investments. European renewables assets in particular, have seen significant interest with our latest research showing an almost three-fold increase in the number of renewables deals since 2012.”

Linklaters advised AIMCo on the deal with a London and Madrid team led by Corporate partners Jessamy Gallagher, Lara Hemzaoui and Jose Gimenez.