The Norwegian controlling shareholder of Dublin-based Mainstream Renewable Power has moved to merge the business with an offshore wind unit it owns to create a group worth about €2.3 billion as it continues to prepare for an initial public offering (IPO).
Oslo-listed Aker Horizons, which is part of the Aker Group industrial investments giant, said on Tuesday that its 54.4 per cent-owned Mainstream unit will combine with its 100 per cent-owned Aker Offshore Wind business, subject to approval on Friday by the Irish unit’s shareholders. The deal is expected to close next month.
The enlarged Mainstream business will have a 27 gigawatt (GW) portfolio across solar, onshore wind and both bottom-fixed and floating offshore wind projects across Latin America, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Europe. These range from projects in planning and development, through to assets under construction and in operation.
For context, the current demand peak for the entire electricity system for the island of Ireland is about 5.5GW.
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“The strong industrial logic for combining Aker Offshore Wind and Mainstream includes complementary footprint and capabilities, increased scale and improved access to financing,” said Mary Quaney, chief executive of Mainstream.
Mainstream, founded in 2008 by Irish renewable energy entrepreneur Eddie O’Connor, was taken control of by Aker Horizons early last year in a deal that valued that business at up to €1 billion. The agreement allowed Mr O’Connor and a group of long-standing Irish high-net-worth investors to reinvest some of the proceeds to retain a 25 per cent stake in the business.
Aker Horizons said at time of the investment announcement in January 2021 that the aim was to launch an initial public offering (IPO) of Mainstream within two to three years of the transaction going through.
Japanese conglomerate Mitsui invested €575 million in the business in April for a 27.5 per cent stake. Figures contained in an Aker Horizons investor presentation on its website suggest that Aker Offshore Wind will account for less than 9 per cent of the enlarged group’s total value.
The legacy Irish investors will own 16.5 per cent of the wider group by the time the merger is completed next month.
Mainstream said that the floating wind market is projected to grow rapidly in coming years, as several countries have launched ambitious targets to develop gigawatts of wind energy, with about 70-80 per cent of offshore wind resources located at water depths only suitable for floating foundations.
Mainstream’s offshore business will continue to develop existing project opportunities for fixed and floating wind in markets such as Norway, Sweden, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Ireland, Britain and the US, while exploring opportunities in new markets, it said.
