International investment bankers Schroders have taken a 75% stake in renewables asset managers Greencoat Capital, at a cost initially agreed at £ 358 million.
Global leadership in clean generation is the declared aim.
The 12-year old acquiree has been riding the world’s clean tech surge, its portfolio of utility-scale assets growing just under 50% each year since 2017. At the end of last month, Greencoat’s projects were valued at £ 6.7 billion and rated at over 3 GW.
They number more than 200 across wind, solar and biomass, and are located in the UK, Europe and the US.
A pioneer of large-scale green energy and storage, in the past twelve months alone Greencoat has attracted £1.6 billion-worth of new equity and private investment.
Now to be rebranded as Schroders Greencoat, the firm will seek to capitalise on continuing worldwide expansion in renewables, which it anticipates reaching $1 trillion this decade.
Greencoat’s clients among UK pensions providers commit for the long-term, frequently offering 25-year mandates on assets. The firm manages Greencoat UK Wind, the leading sterling-denominated listed renewable infrastructure investment fund, and Greencoat Renewables, its euro-denominated equivalent.
The fund’s four founders Laurence Fumagalli, Bertrand Gautier, Stephen Lilley and Richard Nourse will continue running the business, preserving independent decision-making over investments and a culture seen by Schroders as complementing its own.