State to raise over €50m selling most of Greencoat Renewables stake

The Ireland Strategic Investment Funds (ISIF) put more than half of its 12 per cent stake in Dublin-listed wind energy investor Greencoat Renewables on the market on Thursday evening in a deal that is expected to raise over €50 million.

The fund, which is managed and controlled by the National Treasury Management Agency, hired brokers at RBC Capital Markets to place 45.6 million shares – equating to a 7.2 per cent stake – in Greencoat Renewables with investors.

Applying a typical 5 per cent placing discount to the company’s €1.23 closing stock price on Thursday would raise more than €53 million. ISIF will retain a 4.8 per cent interest in the business after the share sale, which it would not be allowed to sell for at least 180 days under a standard “lock-up” agreement tied to the placing.

Main backer

ISIF was Greencoat Renewable’s main backer when it floated on the Irish market in July 2017, investing €76 million for a then 28.2 per cent stake. The stake was subsequently diluted as the wind energy company raised additional equity from stock-market investors to fund wind farm acquisitions.

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Greencoat Renewables has built up a portfolio of wind farms over the past three years with a capacity of generating 528 megawatts of power, including assets bought earlier this year in France, marking its entry to into the continental European market. The gross value of its assets at the end of June stood at €1.14 billion.