Spanish independent power producer (IPP) Opdenergy is preparing to launch an initial public offering (IPO) to help fund the development of 3.7GW of renewables projects across Europe and the Americas.
The company’s plan to float on the Spanish Stock Exchanges consists of a primary offering, expected to raise proceeds of €400 million (US$475 million), and a secondary offering by an existing shareholder that owns around 15.6% of the current share capital to raise proceeds of around €17 million (US$20 million).
Opdenergy said the listing represents the next step in its development and transformation to become a large-scale geographically diversified IPP.
Over the past 15 years, the company has developed and overseen the commissioning of more than 800MW of solar PV and wind capacity from over 70 projects. Its current operating, ready for operation and under construction portfolio includes 131 PV plants and one onshore wind farm with total capacity of 584MW, of which around 104MW corresponds to the Sol de los Andes solar project under construction in Chile.
Opdenergy has a pipeline of projects in five European counties (Spain, Italy, the UK, France and Poland) and three markets in the Americas (the US, Chile and Mexico).
The IPO represents a “key milestone” for the company in its path to become a large-scale IPP in both regions, said Luis Cid, CEO of Opdenergy, adding: “The offering proceeds will allow us to accelerate and fuel our ambitious business plan.”
Santander and Citigroup will be joint bookrunners and coordinators for the offering, while Alantra, BofA Securities Europe, Berenberg and RBC Capital Markets will also be joint bookrunners. Evercore and Rothschild & Co will be financial advisers for the company.
With increased investor demand for clean energy assets, there has been an uptick in IPOs among Spanish solar players in recent months. Earlier this week, renewables developer Ecoener revealed plans for its own IPO, aiming to raise up to €200 million (US$237.6 million) to support an expansion of its project pipeline.
Tracker manufacturer Soltec listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange in October, an IPO that the company said showed strong investor demand. Proceeds are being used to address growth opportunities in the solar market as well as finance the business plan of the firm’s Powertis project development unit.
