Canada’s Boralex Weighs Sale of Stake in French Unit

(Bloomberg) -- Boralex Inc. is considering the sale of a minority stake in its French business to help raise money for expansion elsewhere in Europe and in the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter.

The Canadian renewables group is working with an adviser as it explores options for its operation in France, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. A sale could attract financial investors, the people said.

Deliberations are ongoing and Boralex may still decide against a stake sale, according to the people.

Boralex, which has a market capitalization of C$4 billion ($3.2 billion), specializes in wind, solar, hydroelectric and thermal power production. It is France’s largest owner-operator of onshore wind turbines, according to its annual report, and the country accounted for about 50% of group earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the final quarter of 2020.

At an investor day in June, Boralex set out new objectives for 2025 that included making the U.S. its prime market for development and diversifying its presence across the country and also in Europe. 

A spokeswoman for Boralex said the firm estimates it will invest C$5 billion to C$6 billion for its 2025 strategic plan and that forming partnerships could be one way of raising some of these funds. 

“We are carefully considering all possible options to achieve our ambitions,” she said.

The push comes as both Washington and the European Union seek to boost wind and solar power to help cut carbon emissions, as experts warn of mounting natural disasters tied to global warming. In France, President Emmanuel Macron is pressing ahead with plans to double onshore wind capacity and quadruple solar power by 2028.

Last month, South Korea’s Hanwha Solutions Corp. agreed to buy the French renewables project portfolio of U.K.’s Renewable Energy Systems Ltd. for 727 million euros ($852 million).

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