GREEN CAPITALI$M (ESG)
Zara Billionaire Makes $395 Million Clean Energy Gambit

Thomas Gualtieri
Thu, November 16, 2023





(Bloomberg) -- Amancio Ortega, the billionaire founder of Inditex SA’s Zara clothing chain, agreed to buy a 49% stake in a Spanish clean energy portfolio from Repsol SA for €363 million ($395 million), its largest acquisition of renewable energy assets so far.

The portfolio comprises 12 wind farms and two solar photo-voltaic plants located across Spain, with a total capacity of 618 megawatts, Madrid-based Repsol said in a regulatory filing on Thursday. It also includes projects with hybridization potential, which would add an additional 279.2 megawatts.

The move consolidates the recent bet by Ortega’s family office Pontegadea on energy and outside real estate, the industry in which it has invested the most. It’s the third deal agreed with Repsol, following the acquisitions in 2021 of a 49% stake in the oil maker’s Delta wind farm for €245 million and of another 49% of the smaller Kappa plant last year.

The investment vehicle also owns 5% of Spain’s natural gas network operator Enagás SA, as well as stakes in power grid manager Redeia Corp SA and its Portuguese counterpart, REN-Redes Energeticas Nacionais SGPS SA.

For Repsol, the deal means a fresh capital injection that will help it reduce financial expenses at a time of high interest rates, while letting the firm retain a controlling stake in the assets. It’s a strategy also followed by other energy companies, including Spanish utility Iberdrola SA, which has completed divestments of minority stakes across Europe.

Endesa SA, a Spanish utility controlled by Italy’s Enel SpA, has also hired advisers as it seeks to sell a 49% stake in a clean energy portfolio valued at €2 billion, newspaper Cinco Dias reported.

--With assistance from Clara Hernanz Lizarraga.

 Bloomberg Businessweek