UAE's Masdar eyes Iberian renewables champion after recent deals
By Pietro Lombardi
MADRID, Sept 27 (Reuters) -United Arab Emirates' renewable energy company Masdar will seek to further grow its presence in the Iberian market after clinching two deals in the region in recent months, an executive in the company told Reuters.
Masdar clinched this week its second large renewables deal in Spain in two months, buying Saeta Yield from Canada's Brookfield BAM.TO in a $1.4 billion deal.
In July, it agreed to take a minority stake in a 2-gigawatt solar portfolio controlled by Endesa - a unit of Italy's Enel ENEI.MI.
"The fact that we've done two deals in a matter of a couple of months tells you that we are very keen on the Spanish market," M&A chief Faisal Tahir Bhatti said.
"We're well on our way to building up our own champion."
Saeta's 745 megawatts of mostly wind assets, 1.6 GW of projects under development in Spain and Portugal, and 90-strong staff offer a strong platform to grow in Iberia and beyond, he said.
With a 100-GW renewable capacity target by 2030, Masdar has so far invested in roughly 20 GW of renewable projects valued $30 billion around the world, excluding the recent deals.
Masdar and other deep-pocketed investors from the Gulf and other regions have intensified dealmaking in a sector hit by high interest rates and rising debt costs, with energy giants like Iberdrola IBE.MC and Enel happy to sell minority stakes in wind and solar parks to maximise returns and curb debt.
Masdar - which is controlled by UAE's utility TAQA, oil company ADNOC and the sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company - will now focus on developing its Spanish platforms.
Masdar is in talks with Endesa to develop up to 5 GW of capacity tied to the July deal, he said, while the Saeta pipeline should be connected to the grid by 2030.
Masdar will look at potential new opportunities with current partners, such as Endesa and Iberdrola, but is also open to new partnerships, under the right conditions and with a "very selective" approach.
Reporting by Pietro Lombardi, editing by Andrei Khalip and David Evans
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