French oil giant Total is purchasing all of Saft’s shares, as it aims to enter the energy storage market and boost its development in the renewable sector.
French oil giant Total filed a friendly tender offer targeting all of the issued and outstanding capital shares of French energy storage developer Saft.
Total is creating a fourth business segment to cover gas, renewables and power –Total
Logan Goldie-Scot from Bloomberg New Energy Finance told pv magazine that the acquisition gives Total the expertise in a market that will double in size in 2016, in terms of total deployed capacity.
“Saft manufactures batteries for a number of applications, but the grid-scale storage division is likely to be most attractive for Total,” he added. “For Saft, financing is the major rationale behind the deal. Total’s € 21 billion balance sheet would strengthen Saft’s hand when bidding for larger grid-storage contracts”.
In April, Total announced its plans to create a fourth business segment to cover gas, renewables and power. Acquisition of Saft is a part of the company’s ambition to accelerate its development in the fields of renewable energy and electricity, initiated in 2011 with the acquisition of SunPower, CEO of Total Patrick Pouyanné said in the announcement.
This transaction will also enable Saft, its management and employees to benefit from Total’s technical, industrial, commercial and financial support. In addition, this transaction will enable Saft to successfully accelerate its development.”
This article was originally published by pv-magazine. Re-produced with permission.