Duke Energy completes sale of 1.2 GW of renewable portfolio

Duke Energy has completed the sale of a minority interest in a portion of its commercial renewable energy portfolio owned and operated by its affiliate, Duke Energy Renewables, to the John Hancock Infrastructure Fund (JHIF), part of Manulife Investment Management, and John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A) on 6th of September.

The total enterprise value of this portion of the portfolio is approximately US$1.25 billion including proportional existing project-level debt. The sale will result in pre-tax proceeds to Duke Energy of US$415 million.

As majority owner, Duke Energy remains committed to growing its commercial renewable energy business. The transaction will help fund the company’s future growth capital plans with proceeds used to reduce future debt issuance needs. Duke Energy will retain the majority of the remaining tax benefits from the projects.

The portion of Duke Energy’s commercial renewables energy portfolio to be sold includes 49% of 37 operating wind, solar and battery storage assets and 33% of 11 operating solar assets across the US. Now complete, John Hancock’s interest will represent approximately 1.2 GW of generating capacity.

Morgan Stanley served as an exclusive financial adviser in the deal, and Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP served as legal adviser to Duke Energy. John Hancock was advised by the law firms Mayer Brown LLP and Day Pitney LLP.

Portfolio Manager of JHIF and Head of John Hancock’s Infrastructure Investments said - “We believe this investment with Duke Energy represents a rare opportunity to acquire a diversified, large scale renewable energy portfolio alongside a high-quality partner and operator. We share a common view on the importance of renewable energy in the U.S. and we look forward to a successful partnership with Duke Energy.”