Canadian pension giant to buy Pattern Energy for US$6.1 billion

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
A Pattern Energy array in Chile. Source: Pattern Energy

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has bought US developer Pattern Energy Group in an all-cash deal valued at around US$6.1 billion.

CPPIB will pay US$26.75 per Pattern Energy share, equal to a premium of about 14.8% over the stock's closing price on 9 August, the last trading day prior to market speculation about the possible deal.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

The deal will make Pattern Energy, which has been publicly listed since 2013, a private company.

Pattern Energy, which is headquartered in San Francisco, owns 28 utility-scale renewable plants across Japan, US and Canada. The portfolio represents an aggregate operating capacity of 4.4GW.

In a separate deal, the Toronto pension group and buyer CPPIB – which administers a fund paid into by 20 million Canadians – agreed to merge Pattern Energy with its privately-held sister company, wind and solar developer Pattern Development (Pattern Energy Group Holdings 2 LP).

While the two companies are “structurally separate” according to the latter's website, they work in tandem. Pattern Energy has the right of first offer to buy from Pattern Development and owns an equity stake in the business. The two companies share leadership and when Pattern Energy went public in 2013, it acquired its first batch of operating assets from the developer.

Pattern Development claims to have developed 5GW of assets, the majority wind, in Canada, Mexico, Japan and the US.

CPPIB negotiated the second transaction with New York City-headquartered private equity firm Riverstone Holdings LLC, which is invested in Pattern Development and has backed Pattern in its various forms since its founding year of 2009.

The Pattern Energy purchase does not depend on the merger with Pattern Development. It is expected to close by the second quarter of 2020, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.

The CPPIB is responsible for investing unused funds from the Canada Pension Plan, the mandatory federal pension plan paid into by all Canadians apart from residents of the province of Quebec. CPPIB’s fund totalled around CAD$400.6 billion (US$305 billion) on June 30, 2019.

Rumours have been swirling about a possible takeover of Pattern Energy ever since a Bloomberg report in August that claimed another Canadian entity, Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management, had shown interest in merging Pattern Energy with its US renewables arm, TerraForm Power.

Evercore and Goldman, Sachs & Co. LLC are acting as independent financial advisors to Pattern Energy’s special committee. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is serving as independent legal counsel to the special committee.

7 October 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 7-8 October 2025 is our third PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The events in 2023 and 2024 were a sell out success and 2025 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.
21 October 2025
New York, USA
Returning for its 12th edition, Solar and Storage Finance USA Summit remains the annual event where decision-makers at the forefront of solar and storage projects across the United States and capital converge. Featuring the most active solar and storage transactors, join us for a packed two-days of deal-making, learning and networking.
16 June 2026
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 16-17 June 2026, will be our fifth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2027 and beyond.

Read Next

August 29, 2025
US-based climate insurance provider kWh Analytics has launched a new renewable energy insurance cover for extreme weather events.
August 29, 2025
US grid interconnection agreements grew by 33% in 2024, reaching 75GW, with three-quarters signed for solar PV and battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, according to a new report from energy market analyst Wood Mackenzie.
Premium
August 29, 2025
PV Tech Premium hears from Renewable Properties and Silicon Ranch about the new 'start of construction' rules for US solar projects.
Premium
August 28, 2025
US solar companies could potentially pay “tens of billions” of dollars in retroactive duties on products imported from Southeast Asia between June 2022 and June 2024, following a decision from the US Court of International Trade (CIT).
August 28, 2025
Boviet Solar has completed exterior construction work on its 3GW PV cell manufacturing facility in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina. 
August 27, 2025
The governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, has signed a new legislation that seeks to build 3GW of new community solar by 2029.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
October 2, 2025
London,UK
Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
Manila, Philippines