Falck aquires majority stake in 70 MW of Norwegian wind projects

Falck Renewables S.p.A. announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Svelgen Kraft Holding AS, a Norwegian power generation company, to acquire a majority participation into Vestavind Kraft AS, a company holding two wind power consented projects in Norway – Hennøy and Okla with capacity of approximately 70MW.

Falck Renewables S.p.A. will take control of the Hennøy and Okla projects through the acquisition of 80% of the share capital of Vestavind Kraft AS from Svelgen Kraft Holding AS. Svelgen Kraft Holding AS will remain a minority shareholder in the company, contributing its market and power generation experience. The two shareholders will make a final decision on the construction investment at the latest by the end of September 2018. The energization of the projects is expected to happen in 2019 at the earliest.

Closing is expected by the end of August 2017 subject to a number of conditions including final approval by the Board of Directors of Falck Renewables S.p.A.

As part of the transaction, Falck Renewables S.p.A. will also have the option to access a further 125MW of wind projects in Norway developed by Svelgen Kraft Holding AS.

The price agreed is about €2.2 million (US$2.5 million) to be paid through Falck Renewables S.p.A.’s existing financial resources plus a potential earn-out of about €3.8 million (US$4.38 million), conditional on a final investment decision.

Toni Volpe, Falck Renewables CEO, said:

“The acquisition of Vestavind Kraft fits squarely into our strategy and represents an important milestone set forth in our Industrial Plan. These sites have strong wind resource and can offer one of the most competitive levelized cost of energy in Europe. We are particularly excited to do this in partnership with Svelgen Kraft and to benefit from their experience and presence rooted in the local community.”

Ola Lingaas, Chairman, Svelgen Kraft Holding, said:

“In Falck Renewables we have found an ideal partner for our wind power projects in western Norway. Not only was it important for us to raise financial capital to execute the project plans, we are equally glad about teaming up with a major industrial company with a strong track record from developing renewable energy in Europe.”