Agreement between A2A and Ardian, a French private equity investment fund, to accelerate the energy transition together: the two companies aim to ensure that the partnership becomes one of the leading platforms in Italy in the energy transition and one of the largest producers and suppliers of electricity of the country, with a focus on green energy.
The two gruppi signed a non-binding term-sheet that establishes the main terms of a partnership in the generation and supply of energy in Italy, following the agreements of November 2020 to explore together the opportunities opened by green hydrogen.
Based on the term-sheet, the establishment of a newco that would be controlled by A2A is envisaged, in which the company will confer full ownership, or majority shareholdings, of a portfolio of assets relating to energy generation (hydroelectric, CCGT, wind and solar ), energy sales, energy management, storage and hydrogen-related projects. The indicative preliminary assessment of the perimeter that would be conferred in the newno is approximately 3 billion euros, with an aggregate pro-forma 2020 Ebitda of 360 million. A valuation that implies a valuation of the entire A2A business units involved in the partnership (including minority shareholdings and portions of business units that would not be transferred to the newco) of approximately 4.1 billion eurosro.
For its part, Ardian will invest up to 1.5 billion euros in cash in the new company, thus accelerating the roll-out and financing of the 3GW + plan for generation from renewable sources outlined by A2A last January. To this end, A2A and Ardian have already identified some potential acquisitions and plan to evaluate others. The partnership becomes bbe the exclusive vehicle for A2A and Ardian’s future investments in renewable energy generation in Italy and the preferred vehicle for joint investments. After the capital increase, Ardian will hold a stake of up to 45%. The creation of the partnership is subject, inter alia, to the completion of due diligence, further discussions between the parties, the negotiation of binding agreements and other conditions: A2A and Ardian have agreed to mutually grant each other binding exclusive periods until the end 2021.