Energy specialists snap up Africa’s largest renewable power producer
Africa’s largest pure-play renewable power independent power producer (IPP), Lekela, has been snapped up in a deal with an expected enterprise value of $1.5bn.
The producer consists of over 1GW of fully operational wind assets, including five operational wind farms in South Africa (624MW), one operational wind farm in Egypt (252MW), one operational wind farm in Senegal (159MW) alongside development opportunities in Ghana, Senegal and Egypt.
It was established in 2015 to deliver clean, reliable energy across Africa.
All of the sites were snapped up by Infinity Group (Infinity) and AFC, after the deal was signed off by current owners Actis – the global investor group – and Mainstream – the wind and solar specialists.
The platform was first established as part of a joint venture between Actis (60 per cent), and a Mainstream-led consortium called Mainstream Renewable Power Africa Holdings (40 per cent).
The exit was planned and reflects the culmination of their partnership strategy for Lekela, following a value creation approach which saw the producer’s value rocket in recent years.
Infinity and AFC have plans to continue its generation expansion – targeting an overall portfolio size of 3GW.
Mohamed Ismail Mansour, co-founder and chairman at Infinity said: “Our acquisition of Africa’s largest independent power producer in the renewables sector is a major milestone in our strategy for growth across the African continent. We are proud to be playing a key role in contributing to a brighter future for Egypt, South Africa, Senegal and the African continent as a whole.”
Samaila Zubairu, president and chief executive at AFC said: “This acquisition marks an important milestone in our journey to build a 3GW renewable energy platform. We are focused on reducing Africa’s massive energy deficit through expanding the quantum of electricity using the various energy sources available throughout the continent..”