Oct 29 2014
ContourGlobal and affiliates of Austria's Raiffeisen Banking Group announced that they have signed agreements for ContourGlobal to purchase approximately 201 MW of renewable energy operating plants in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic for an undisclosed sum.
The portfolios acquired include 8 operating wind farms in Austria totaling 161 MW and operating solar sites in the Czech Republic and Slovakia totaling 40 MW. 103 MW was signed and closed October 15, 2014 with RENERGIE (an affiliate of Raiffeisen-Holding NO-Wien) and an additional 98 MW was signed on October 22, 2014 with REE (an affiliate of Raiffeisen-Leasing) and is expected to close before year-end.
The acquisition expands ContourGlobal's growing portfolio of renewable energy assets, complementing its nearly 1.4 GW portfolio of renewable energy businesses in South America, Europe and Africa.
"We are thrilled to execute this significant transaction, adding to our growing renewable portfolio and continuing our nearly decade long investment in the Central and East European power space," said Mr. Joseph C. Brandt, ContourGlobal's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Austria has a very well developed and well-structured market that provides predictable and fair rules for development competition and we look forward to further growth here. Vienna is also a well located hub for our growing Central and Eastern European operations. For nearly ten years Austrian banks and professional service firms have supported our Eastern European operations. We are pleased to announce that we will be locating our European headquarters to Vienna."
"During the last years REE has developed attractive projects and a sustainable business. We are selling our profitable wind farms and solar plants to ContourGlobal, which is an experienced international power company. ContourGlobal is a sizable company and has the technical know-how to continue the successful operation and development of the assets," stated Alexander Schmidecker, CEO of Raiffeisen Leasing, with the affiliate Raiffeisen Energy & Environment. Mr. Schmidecker also commented that Raiffeisen Leasing will continue to engage in lease financing transactions for projects in the energy sector.
The acquisition adds to ContourGlobal's growing presence in Eastern Europe, where it owns power generation facilities in Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland.
Mr. Karl Schnadt, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Office for ContourGlobal, stated: "We have acquired well maintained and operated wind farms and solar plants. With the integration of both portfolios we will have further opportunities to increase the growth and efficiency of our business."