Infrastructure fund manager F2i acquires Italian solar business from E.ON

E.ON, a European holding company based in Düsseldorf, Germany, has sold its Italian solar business to the private infrastructure investment fund manager F2i.

The activities sold comprise a total generating capacity of 49 megawatt and consist of seven ground mounted solar plants that were constructed between 2010 and 2013. The solar plants are located in areas with high irradiation and benefit from favorable solar regimes providing stable cash flows in the long-term. About 70 percent of the capacity is installed on Sardinia.

E.ON and F2i SGR agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The transaction was signed and closed on February 19, 2015.

E.ON is currently trying to complete a €20 billion disposal program due to the fact that its market value has plunged by nearly three quarters since 2008 on the back of a sluggish European economy. As part of this restructuring plan, the German utility giant is also selling non-core assets like its operations in Italy.

In early December 2014 we reported that E.ON had agreed to sell all of its Spanish and Portuguese businesses to Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund IV (Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets) and Wren House Infrastructure for €2.5 billion.

In October 2014 we published that the First State European Diversified Infrastructure Fund (EDIF) acquired 100% of Erdgasversorgungsgesellschaft Thüringen-Sachsen mbH (EVG) from E.ON and VNG – Verbundnetz Gas Aktiengesellschaft (VNG) in Germany.

Based in Milan, F2i is a private infrastructure investment fund manager in Italy and one of Europe’s largest. F2i is fully owned by a group of leading financial institutions. In particular, F2i has been active in the photovoltaic sector in Italy since 2009 as founder of Holding Fotovoltaica (HFV), which currently represents one of the Italian market leaders with 89 megawatt under management.