UPDATE - PNE Wind strikes deal to sell 80% in yieldco

German wind farms developer PNE Wind AG (ETR:PNE3) signed Friday the deal for the sale of 80% in its yieldco that holds 142.5 MW of wind power capacity.

The share purchase agreement has been struck with a unit of AREF II Renewables Investment Holding Sárl, which in turn is a subsidiary of Allianz Renewable Energy Fund II, managed by Allianz Global Investors GmbH.

Securing the Federal Cartel Authority’s nod is one of the conditions precedent for the transaction. PNE Wind expects payment of the purchase price of EUR 103 million (USD 109m) to take place this month.

PNE Wind YieldCo Deutschland GmbH controls 142.5 MW of capacity, including 6.6 MW under construction. It has an option to buy 9.9 MW of additional assets from PNE Wind Group. Upon finalisation of the stake sale, PNE Wind AG will keep a 20% stake in the target and will be in charge of the operation of its wind assets.

PNE Wind AG pointed out that the deal with AREF II Renewables Investment is key to attaining its target of a consolidated EBIT of up to EUR 100 million for 2016, provided that the transaction closes this year. EBIT stands for earnings before interest and tax.

"Through the portfolio sale, we will now have the financial resources to be able to react flexibly and quickly to changes in the international markets and to expand our strategic investments. We also intend to invest in further wind farm projects," said CEO Markus Lesser.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.06)

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