The European Commission (EC) said on Wednesday that it has approved a 50% stake in the acquisition of Spanish solar developer and operator X-Elio EnergySL, proposed by Brookfield Renewable Partners LP.
Under the agreement, the renewable energy division of Canada's Brookfield Asset Management (TSE:BAM.A) will purchase a 20% stake in X-Elio from Acek, the holding company of the Spanish entrepreneur family Ribera, and will also acquire US private equity fund KKR. (NYSE: KKR) holds 30% of the shares.
Upon completion of the transaction, KKR and Brookfield Renewable will operate X-Elio through a 50/50 joint venture.
The European Commission believes that the proposed acquisition will not raise any competition concerns as it will result in “limited horizontal and vertical overlap between the two companies”. The transaction was approved by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in September.
The Madrid-based X-Elio currently has a 273 MW operational solar power plant portfolio and an additional 1,413 megawatts under construction. The company also has a wider 4,800 MW pipeline project in Spain, the United States, Mexico, Chile and Japan.