Swiss investor takes 49% stake in BayWa’s renewables arm

The €530-million deal  gives Energy Infrastructure Partners (EIP), formerly Credit Suisse Energy Infrastructure Partners, a 49% stake in BayWa’s renewables branch, subject to regulatory approval. Once signed off, BayWa’s renewable unit will be converted into a stock corporation under German law. 

Klaus Josef Lutz, chief executive officer of parent company BayWa AG, said that alongside a green bond secured in 2019 for half-a-million euros, the company had acquired €1.03 billion in less than two years.

In a statement, he said: “This is testament to the fact that our decision 11 years ago was the right one. In just a decade, BayWa r.e. has developed into one of the leading companies in the fields of renewable energies – and one that the market values at more than €1 billion.”

He added: “Together [with EIP] we have agreed to continue strengthening BayWa r.e.’s project, service and solutions business going forward while transforming the company into an independent power producer.”

EIP manages more than €2.78 billion from institutional investors in Switzerland, Europe and Asia.

With a stake of 51%, BayWa AG will remain BayWa r.e.’s majority shareholder. This means that it will continue to independently operate selected solar parks and wind farms with a total output of up to 3GW.

According to Windpower intelligence, the research and data division of Windpower Monthly, BayWa has almost 2GW of wind capacity — 730.3MW is online and 1.2GW is in the construction pipeline.