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The Abu Dhabi-stated backed renewables energy company Masdar is looking for more European acquisitions following this month’s $3.4 billion deal with the Athens-listed Terna Energy.
In an interview with the UK’s Financial Times, Masdar Chief Executive Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi said the Greece deal was not about just acquiring this platform and portfolio.
“We are going to be pumping more capital into Greece and into Europe,” he told the FT. “This is a strategic deal for us where we reinforce our presence in Greece but, more importantly, in eastern Europe.”
Masdar already has presence with projects in Serbia, Montenegro, and Poland, along with an agreement with Spanish firm Iberdrola to co-invest in the Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm in Germany, valued at $1.76 billion.
While the renewables industry has come under pressure from higher interest rates, Al Ramahi told the FT the increase has brought the sector back to reality and made people “come to their senses” over deals. “When interest rates were at zero, or negative, people were expecting high valuations…. Now [higher rates] triggered a realisation to the market that the valuation they were thinking of is not real.”
The UAE company has been forging ahead with its growth plan, targeting a renewable energy portfolio capacity of 100GW by 2030.
(Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Daniel Luiz)
