Japan's Orix to buy Spanish energy firm for about 100b yen

[TOKYO] Orix Corp agreed to buy Spain's Elawan Energy, the Japanese financial conglomerate's first deal to acquire a majority stake in an overseas renewable power company, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Tokyo-based Orix is purchasing an 80 per cent stake in Elawan from its management and Spanish industrial company Acek, said the people, who asked not to be identified before an announcement. With an additional capital injection later, the deal is worth about 100 billion yen (S$1.29 billion), the people said.

The acquisition will expand Orix's global renewable energy operations as it broadens a business portfolio that ranges from leasing to banking and real estate. Acek, which also owns car parts maker Gestamp Automocion, has been selling stakes in renewable assets.

Tokyo-based Orix spokesperson Yuka Kanaoka declined to comment. A call made to Madrid-based Acek on the Christmas Day holiday went unanswered.

Elawan, set up in 2007, develops and operates wind and solar power projects in Europe and the Americas. It has 714 megawatts of operational projects, more than 460 megawatts under construction and a development pipeline of over 10 gigawatts.

Orix has been ramping up investment in renewable energy at home and abroad in recent years. The company is also looking for such assets in the US, the people said.

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In September, Orix agreed to buy a roughly 20 per cent stake in Indian renewable energy developer Greenko Energy Holdings for US$980 million, the conglomerate's biggest investment in the sector overseas.

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