Macquarie and CVC in line for 415MW wind assets

UK: Australian and British investment groups Macquarie and CVC, respectively, have emerged as sole finalists in a bid to acquire E.on's Spanish division.

by Michael McGovern 21 November 2014

The deal includes the Hiperion II wind farm in Soria

The deal is for 4.5GW of generating assets, including 415MW of wind capacity. Projects include the 133MW Las Sardas project in the Aragón region.

Despite confidentiality surrounding the sale, leaks suggest an offer range of EUR 2-2.5 billion, well below E.On's EUR 3 billion asking price.

The shortfall is largely attributed to the Spanish government's retroactive axing of wind generation incentives, coupled with falling electricity demand.

The sale is lauded as the biggest power sector sale since Gas Natural bought out fellow Spanish rival utility Unión Fenosa in 2009, including 17GW of power generation assets.

E.on España employs 1135 people in Spain. Other assets mainly involve a power distribution and provider network serving over 650,000 customers.

Rival utilities Endesa and Gas Natural have dropped out of the bidding process. The bulk of the E.on España assets comprise hydro, gas and coal-fired capacity, in that order.