Ørsted to Acquire Lincoln Clean Energy from I Squared Capital
August 09,2018
Ørsted has entered into an agreement with I Squared Capital and management shareholders to acquire a 100 percent equity interest in Lincoln Clean Energy LLC (LCE) for an enterprise valuation of USD 580 million.
LCE is a U.S.-based developer, owner and operator of wind farms. Since I Squared Capital acquired a 90 percent stake in the company in 2015, with the management team owning the remaining 10 percent, LCE has developed and built over 500 MW of operating capacity, is constructing another 300 MW onshore wind project, and has a pipeline of more than 1.5 GW expected to be completed by 2022.
Ørsted is an offshore wind developer and in February 2018 announced plans to invest in other renewable energy technologies to reinforce its position in renewable energy.
Ole Kjems Sørensen, EVP at Ørsted and Head of Partnerships, M&A & Asset Management, said, "With the acquisition of LCE, we acquire an attractive portfolio with a good mix of operating and development capacity."
LCE’s existing management team will continue to run the business, which will be a separate unit outside of Ørsted’s Wind Power business.
The transaction is subject to approval by the U.S. competition authorities and is expected to close prior to the end of 2018.
Ørsted has installed 5.1 GW offshore wind capacity in Europe and has a further 3.8 GW under construction. It is Ørsted’s ambition to have installed a total offshore wind capacity of 11-12 GW worldwide by 2025.
Ørsted entered the U.S. in 2015 and sees the U.S. renewables market as an attractive, strategic growth opportunity.
Ørsted holds the right to develop Bay State Wind and Ocean Wind, in total up to 4 GW of potential offshore wind capacity.
In Virginia, Ørsted will be constructing two 6 MW wind turbines for phase one of Dominion Energy’s Coastal Offshore Wind Project. The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding giving Ørsted exclusive rights to discuss potential development of up to 2 GW of offshore wind capacity.
In addition, Ørsted is active in battery storage and solar development and last year established a presence in Austin, Texas, to lead those efforts.
LCE is a developer of U.S. onshore wind projects with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Austin, Texas.
LCE has developed over 1.8 GW of renewable power projects in California, New Jersey and Texas. LCE said that in 2017 it was the largest non-utility wind developer in the U.S.
LCE owns a portfolio of 513 MW recently commissioned wind and solar assets and 300 MW of under construction wind assets located primarily in Texas. All projects are fully contracted with long-term offtake agreements with high quality counterparties.
LCE also owns more than 1.5 GW of development projects spread across the wind-rich U.S. markets of ERCOT, SPP and MISO.