ERG signs agreement to acquire three German wind assets

ERG, through its subsidiary ERG Windpark Beteiligungs GmbH, has signed an agreement with a company controlled by the German investment firm Aquila Capital, regarding the acquisition of a 100% equity stake in three German companies, owners of a corresponding number of wind farms located in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania region of north-east Germany.

The wind farms, which have an overall installed capacity of 34 MW and are equipped with 11 Vestas V112 wind turbines, came on stream in 2014. Their average annual output during the past 4 years amounted to around 89 GWh, corresponding to more than 2,600 equivalent hours and approximately 67,000 t of avoided CO2 emissions per year. The wind farms are entitled to benefit from an overall incentive tariff, which in 2018 averaged EUR97/MWh (US$107.6/MWh), for a period of 20 years.

The transaction closing is scheduled to take place in the third quarter of 2019, following authorisation by the German antitrust authorities. The expected transaction price in terms of equity value amounts to EUR37 million (US$41 million), corresponding to an enterprise value of EUR83 million (US$92 million). Average annual EBITDA is forecast at approximately EUR7 million (US$7.76 million).

ERG has been assisted in this transaction by Rothschild & Co. Italia (Financial advisor), Taylor Wessing (Legal advisor), Pwc (Accounting & Tax advisor) and Fichtner (technical advisor).