Elliott Green Power looking for buyers for $600m Australian solar portfolio

Another major investor in large-scale solar projects is ramping up efforts to sell its its Australian assets with Elliott Green Power engaging expert advisors to facilitate the sale of its 300MW solar portfolio.

Elliott Green Power is understood to have engaged corporate advisory firm Azure Capital and the Bank of America to help find buyers for its Australian solar assets, worth an estimated $600 million.

Elliot Green Power’s assets include the Susan River Solar Farm and the Childers solar farm – both in Queensland – as well as the Nevertire Solar Farm in New South Wales.

The company said that it would “not comment on market speculation,” but added that it had already received multiple expressions of interest from potential buyers.

“There is significant momentum in the renewables market with institutional investors displaying strong appetite given the long-term positive sector dynamics – energy transition, decarbonisation of the energy mix, lowering the cost of electricity. Elliott has received multiple inquiries reflecting the strong interest in the business,” the company said.

The Australian-based subsidiary is part of a much larger, US-based, Elliott Management Corporation, a $40 billion hedge fund founded by activist investor Paul Singer, and there were rumours last year that the firm was testing the market for potential buyers of the Australian portfolio.

Elliott Management Corporation manages investments for a number of major institutional investors, including pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, as well as high net-worth individuals.

The Australian operations were managed by long-term energy market executive, CEO Umberto Tamburrino, along with a investment manager for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, Chris Twomey. Former CEO of ARENA, Ivor Frischknecht, had also been brought in as an adviser.

The potential sale of the Elliot Green Power portfolio would be yet another major transaction in the Australian clean energy space in the last 12 months.

It would follow the delisting of both Windlab and Infigen Energy last year, following their respective acquisitions. Tilt Renewables is also set to follow the same path, with AGL Energy’s Powering Australian Renewables Fund, formed in collaboration with QIC, the frontrunner to secure Tilt’s Australian assets.

Another ASX-listed pure-play renewables company, New Energy Solar, is also looking for buyers for its two Australian-based solar farms, the Beryl and Mildura solar farms, as the company looks to re-orient its business following a strategic review.

New Energy Solar instigated a strategic review of its operations in an effort to boost its share price – which the company believes has consistently traded at a substantial discount to its underlying value – deciding to concentrate on more lucrative solar investments in the United States.

New Energy Solar chairman Jeffrey Whalan told shareholders at the company’s Annual General Meeting held on Monday that the company is considering using the proceeds of the sale as part of a share buy-back in an effort to boost value for shareholders. The company expects to secure a buyer for the two Australian solar farms in the next few months.

FRV is also rumoured to be seeking a buyer for a part share in its seven solar farm portfolio in Australia, while UK-based John Laing has sold its Australian wind portfolio and will also seek buyers for its two solar assets – including the Finley and Sunraysia solar farms – once grid congestion issues have been sorted.

See also: Large Scale Solar Farm Map of Australia