Grenergy will have the option of gradually acquiring the entire shareholding of Sofos Harbert after a period of three years from the closing of this transaction. The company found value in the track record and local experience of Sofos Harbert´s team, who has successfully developed and connected more than 560 MW of solar PV projects for third parties.
In their decision, Grenergy also considered Sofos Harbert´s portfolio of 1.9 GWs of solar energy projects under development in the country, in three different electricity markets (Southeast, PJM, MISO) with high growth potential, as well as their experience in energy storage projects and solid organizational structure with more than 20 employees.
Both, its management team, as well as its leading partner -the local businessman Billy Harbert, the main shareholder of the construction company BL Harbert International, based in Birmingham, Alabama – have extensive experience and a proven track record in the U.S. energy and construction market, which will complement the capabilities and the sector expertise held by Grenergy.
In this way, Grenergy invests in the United States through an operational platform, a local partner of recognized prestige, that allows the company to rapidly enter the world’s largest and booming renewable energy market, foreseeing an increase in solar PV deployment from the current 61 GW to 1,000 GW by 2035.
This agreement also represents Grenergy’s first acquisition as part of its growth strategy, which has led the company to establish a presence in three distinct regions, Europe, Latin America, and now, the United States.
According to David Ruiz de Andrés, CEO of Grenergy, “this strategic acquisition allows us to accelerate our growth in the United States, a market that will install more solar capacity in the coming years than Europe and Latin America combined. And we will do so in a structured manner, through our investment in a company like Sofos Harbert, which has an extensive project portfolio and a highly qualified local team.”
Grenergy has been advised in this transaction by PWC (financial), Clifford Chance (legal) and Enertis (technical) while Sofos Harbert has been advised by RS Corporate Finance (financial) and Dentons (legal).
Clifford Chance’s cross-border team was led by Washington DC partner Michael Bonsignore and Spanish office senior associate Eduardo Sánchez Roldán. Michael Murphy acted on behalf of the Dentons team.
