Polish solar developer bought by Norwegian state-owned energy company

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Norwegian state energy company Equinor yesterday purchased Polish renewables developer Wento in a deal described by the purchaser as worth “€91 million in enterprise value, before customary net cash adjustments” and by the private equity firm seller as a “€100 million transaction.”

The solar and wind developer has, according to previous owners Enterprise Investors, secured contracts-for-difference top-up payments on the wholesale energy price from the Polish government for 177 MW of solar generation capacity.

There also appears to be a potential mismatch in the estimated size of the solar project pipeline held by Wento, with Equinor stating its new subsidiary has plans for “more than 1 GW” of further solar projects. Enterprise Investors, signaling the sale on its website – for reported gross proceeds of €139 million on the investment – said that pipeline is significantly more than 1 GW, at “1.6 GW of solar projects in different stages of development.”

The website of Enterprise Investors, which has a New York office, suggests the private equity business emerged out of the Polish-American Enterprise Fund set up by the U.S. government to aid small businesses in Poland in the early 1990s.

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