ACS and Vinci will analyze the first potential procurement of renewable energy projects through the alliance they formed in 2022, starting next January. Sale of the Spanish group’s Industrial Services division to the French.
Notably, Cobra, the flagship of the transaction, will launch various solar assets in Brazil and Spain in the coming weeks – before the end of this year. will exceed 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy in operation.
According to sources familiar with the process, Company managed by José María Castillo The joint venture of ACS and Vinci will be offered to purchase solar energy facilities with an installed capacity of 1 GW.
The companies, led respectively by Florentino Pérez and Xavier Huillard, decided three years ago to form a joint venture to acquire renewable projects in Cobra’s portfolio once they become operational. The Spanish company owns 49% of the shares, while the French group controls 51%..
The agreement determines: Cobra IS owned by Vinci since December 31, 2021will offer the joint venture the purchase of operating renewable energy power plants in groups with a capacity of 1 GW. Cobra, which owns 100% of the assets, currently has a portfolio of over 12 GW of potential renewable energy projects around the world to be developed by 2030.
Company led by José María Castillo in 2023 First approximately 600 megawatts (MW) commissioned in Brazil. Specifically, service has begun for the Belmonte photovoltaic complex located in São José do Belmonte, municipality of Pernambuco. The facility has a net installed power of 570 MW and produces 1,200 GWh annually, which corresponds to the annual consumption of 723,000 houses in the region.
In addition to the Belmonte park, which will be part of the first land that ACS and Vinci can purchase, Cobra is also developing the Guaimbê, Mundo Novo, Cristino Castro and Pecém e Raios de Panaíba solar projects in the South American country. total capacity greater than 1.6 GWp.
Meanwhile, in Spain, the commissioning of several photovoltaic power plants with a capacity of over 100 MW located in different parts of the national geography is nearing completion.
The 1 GW block that Cobra will offer will consist of approximately 900 MW in Brazil and 100 MW in Spain.. Starting in January, ACS and Vinci will have to analyze the transaction and decide whether to give content to an alliance that has no activity to date. The final preferential offer will have to respond to the market price anyway, which could mean an amount of around 800-1,000 million euros.
Sources consulted point out uncertainties about whether the Spanish and French groups will finally agree to launch the joint venture. If they choose not to pass on an offer, Cobra will have several alternatives: Keeping projects in-house, selling them to another Crane business unit, or transferring them to a third party.
variable quantity
In parallel with the analysis of the purchase option for Cobra’s assets, at the beginning of next year ACS and Vinci will evaluate each’s valuation of the ‘earn-out (variable amount)’ contained in the contract they signed for the transfer. Transfer of the industrial services division of the Spanish multinational to the French one.
The transaction involved a cash payment of 4,902 million euros. Moreover, Including ‘earnings’ of up to €600 million20 million in cash for every 0.5 GW developed by the industrial activity sold from 31 March 2021 until the following seven years (‘ready for construction’, ‘ready for construction’ status), Realization of the sale (December 31, 2028), if the first If it cannot develop 6 GW in 42 months (by June), it can be extended for another 18 months. 2025).
At the end of the first half of 2024, ACS had requested 80 million euros from Vinci for the development of 2 GW (40 million this year and 40 million last year). The Spanish group also updated the fair value of ‘earnings’, reducing it from 295.59 million euros to 258.47 million euros at the end of 2023. Vinci, on the other hand, revised its estimated variable amount upwards by 50 million euros in the first half of this year.
Cobra’s forecast will reach 1.5 GW ready for construction each year by 2030. This means that within eight and a half years the total amount will increase to between 12 and 13 GW, resulting in a payment from da Vinci to ACS of approx. 520 million euros.
Cobra has two main countries in the development of renewable energies: Brazil and Spain. Now, The aim is to balance its existing portfolio to cover 30% of the Spanish market’s 12 GW of production.; The United States and Australia, where engineering is already building projects, account for another 30%; and about 30% in South America.
Cobra aims for a new record for this year
Cobra IS recorded revenue of 4.9 billion euros in the first nine months of this yearThis represents an increase of 4.5 percent compared to the same period in 2023. Thus, it is heading towards a new record, reaching 6.5 billion euros in 2023. However, in the third quarter, there was a 2% decrease to 1,594 million. In 2019, before the pandemic and before ACS sold its industrial services division to Vinci, which includes Cobra, engineering generated revenue of 6.3 billion euros. Operating margin increased from 7.5% to 7.8% in the first six months.
Cobra hired 7,000 million people between January and SeptemberThat’s down from 8.5 billion in 2023. Now, Portfolio increased to 16.4 billionIt corresponded to 14.4 billion in the previous year. Regarding investments, Cobra paid out 704 million in the year to June, compared to 126 million in the previous year.
