July 18 (Renewables Now) - Renewables developer Mainstream Renewable Power and private equity firm Actis have agreed to sell their African renewables platform Lekela Power to Infinity Group and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) in a deal with an enterprise value of about USD 1.5 billion (EUR 1.49bn).

Lekela is said to be Africa’s largest pure-play renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) with an operating portfolio of over 1 GW of wind farms, including 624 MW in South Africa, 252 MW in Egypt and 159 MW in Senegal. It also has development opportunities in Ghana, Senegal and Egypt.

The platform was created in 2015 as a joint venture between Actis with a 60% stake and a Mainstream-led consortium named Mainstream Renewable Power Africa Holdings (MRPAH) with 40%.

The sale is a planned exit after a successful partnership strategy, the companies said in separate statements on Monday. Lucy Heintz, partner and head of Energy Infrastructure at Actis, said Lekela Power is “strongly positioned for its next phase of growth.”

The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to take place later this year.

The news follows reports that Actis was preparing to sell Lekela.

Mainstream and Actis also recently completed the sale of their Chilean joint venture Aela Energia to Canadian power producer Innergex Renewable Energy Inc (TSE:INE).

(USD 1 = EUR 0.994)

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