MILAN (Reuters) – U.S. investment fund Sixth Street is in the final stages of talks to become an investor in a future venture combining the assets of Italian energy firm Sorgenia’s with those of solar power firm EF Solare, two sources close to the matter said.
Sixth Street would become a shareholder in a new single player, with a stake of nearly 40%, valued at around 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion), the people said on condition of anonymity as the talks are confidential.
Spanish fund Asterion, which holds a 27.6% stake in Sorgenia, would exit the venture. EF Solare and Sorgenia are both controlled by Italian infrastructure fund F2i.
The combination of the two firms would create a company totalling over 3.5 billion euros in revenues.
The deal comes as Italian energy companies are intensifying efforts to boost renewable power capacity in the country to meet ambitious green goals agreed with European Union for 2030.
Following a bidding process that began last year, Sixth Street talks are now at an advanced stage and a deal could be announced later this month, the people said.
F2i and Sixth Street declined to comment. Asterion did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Sorgenia has an installed capacity of 3,180 megawatt(MW) of highly efficient gas-fired combined cycle plants, while its wind and biomass plants have total installed capacity of 410 MW, according to F2i’s website.
EF Solare has 309 solar farms in Italy and 10 in Spain, for a total installed capacity of 1,071 MW.
Italian media outlets Corriere della Sera and MF previously reported that Sixth Street was finalising a deal for a stake in the future combined entity.
($1 = 0.8825 euros)
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Giancarlo Navach; Editing by Kim Coghill)
