AES to shed part of 336-MW PV portfolio to SunEdison

Jun 18, 2014 - US power company AES Corp (NYSE:AES) said Tuesday it had agreed to sell to SunEdison Inc (NYSE:SUNE) its 50% interest in Silver Ridge Power LLC, a firm that owns 336 MW of photovoltaic (PV) projects.

The disposal proceeds of USD 165 million (EUR 122m) will be used by the seller to maximise total shareholder returns. The move is part of AES Corp’s strategy to simplify it portfolio, said president and CEO Andres Gluski.

Silver Ridge Power, former AES Solar, is a joint venture between AES Corp and private investment firm Riverstone Holdings LLC.

More specifically, solar firm SunEdison will take 50% stakes in operational solar parks and projects under development in Europe, India and the US. In addition, SunEdison has an option to buy AES Corp’s 50% interest in 130 MW of solar schemes in Italy for USD 42 million by August 2015. The seller plans to retain its 50% stake in 55 MW of PV projects in Puerto Rico and Spain.

The deal is subject to purchase price adjustments and regulatory clearance, including by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The approvals are seen to be granted at the end of this month.

AES Corp noted that it is entitled to get about USD 50 million from Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) USD-103-million investment in Silver Ridge Power’s 265.7-MW Mount Signal solar project in California. The complex was put on stream in April.

The two transactions are reflected in AES Corp’s forecast for 2014 and are expected to “be modestly accretive” to its results in 2015 and after that.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.738)

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