Brookfield eyes Neoen takeover, offers EUR 6.1bn for majority

Canada's Brookfield Asset Management (TSE:BAM.PF.F) has offered to buy a majority stake in Neoen SA (EPA:NEOEN) in a deal that values the French renewable power producer’s equity at EUR 6.1 billion (USD 6.58bn).

The Canadian asset manager has entered into exclusive negotiations to buy 53.32% of Neoen’s stock at a price of EUR 39.85 apiece, which represents a 26.9% premium over the last closing price of the shares, Neoen said on Thursday.

The transaction, which Neoen said was unanimously welcomed by its Board of Directors, will be subject to clearance by antitrust and foreign investment regulators. Once completed, Brookfield plans to file an all-cash mandatory tender offer for all remaining shares of Neoen and outstanding convertible bonds.

According to the French company’s bourse filing, talks regarding the block acquisition are being held with French billionaire Jacques Veyrat’s Impala SAS, the Fonds Strategique de Participations managed by ISALT, Cartusiai and Neoen’s chairman and CEO Xavier Barbaro, along with some other shareholders. Definitive agreements for the deal have not been signed yet.

Regulatory approvals for the block acquisition are expected to be secured by the closing quarter of 2024 and the tender offer could be launched in the first trimester of 2025.

Paris-based Neoen operates in the global solar, wind power and storage markets. At the end of March, it had a secured portfolio of almost 9.1 GW, including 8 GW in operation or under construction. Among the company’s most notable assets are the 404-MW Mutkalampi wind farm in Finland, which is the country’s largest, the 375-MWp El Llano solar complex in Mexico, as well as the 150-MW Hornsdale Power Reserve and 300-MW Victorian Big Battery in Australia.

“We look forward to developing a strong relation with Brookfield that will take Neoen to the next phase of its growth story, further consolidating its leadership position as an independent producer of renewable energy, and one of the most dynamic globally,” said Neoen’s CEO Xavier Barbaro.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.079)

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