Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund will probably become the largest single shareholder in the energy company RWE in the next few days.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund will probably become the largest single shareholder in the energy company RWE in the next few days. This will happen in the first quarter when a 2.4 billion euro bond previously issued to the QIA fund will be converted into RWE shares, the company announced on Wednesday.
The announcement comes as part of the completion of RWE’s $6.8 billion acquisition of the cleantech arm of US solar giant Con Edison, announced in October. The announced transaction was completed in just five months, RWE announced.
With the takeover, the Essen-based energy company has almost doubled its portfolio of wind, solar and battery storage systems in North America and has an installed capacity of eight gigawatts (GW). According to RWE, this will make RWE number two in the USA among operators of solar systems and number four overall for renewable energies.
Largest takeover since spin-off from Innogy
The purchase of Con Edison is the largest acquisition since Innogy spun off in 2018. The Essen-based group is receiving financing support from Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, QIA. The transaction will be financed in part by issuing a bond to QIA, which after the conversion will hold 9.1 percent of the shares in Germany’s largest energy supplier, RWE said at the time. The conversion of the bonds will probably take place in the first quarter of 2023, RWE announced.
“As of today, RWE is a leading company in the field of renewable energies in the United States. With the founding of RWE Clean Energy, we are significantly expanding RWE’s presence in the USA, one of the world’s most attractive and fastest growing markets for renewable energies,” said RWE CEO Markus Krebber in a statement on Wednesday.
Con Edison Clean Energy, which will be called RWE Clean Energy in the future, is expected to contribute an operating profit (Ebitda) of 600 million dollars to RWE’s profit in the first year. The group had already planned 15 billion euros for investments in “green energies” in the USA.
All in all, RWE’s portfolio is still more brown than green, but of the almost 3.7 billion euros that the company invested in 2021, 83 percent will go to wind power and solar energy. But natural gas also continues to play a central role in the Essen-based company’s strategy.
With agency material
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