Adani to Acquire SB Energy’s 5 GW Portfolio in India’s Largest Renewables M&A Deal

Adani Green Energy has signed agreements for the acquisition of 100 percent interest in SB Energy India from the SoftBank & Bharti Group

Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL), has announced that it has signed the share purchase agreements for the acquisition of 100 percent interest in SB Energy India from the SoftBank Group (80 percent) and Bharti Group (20 percent). 

SB Energy India has a total renewable portfolio of 4,954 MW spread across four states in India. The transaction marks the largest acquisition in the renewable energy sector in India. The transaction values SB Energy India at an enterprise valuation of approximately USD 3.5 billion.

For Adani, which has emerged as the buyer of first resort for any significant India-based solar asset owner in recent months, the SB Energy acquisition marks a big ticket acquisition after a string of smaller deals it closed in the past few months. By getting operating assets, the firm also gets to show a more ‘real’ asset base, rather than a massive pipeline of projects, many of which are stuck due to to multiple issues ranging from land acquisition, to signing of PPA’s etc.

Masayoshi Son, Representative Director, Corporate Officer, Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., said “we established SB Energy India in 2015 with the goal of creating a market-leading clean energy company to help fuel India’s growth with clean and renewable sources of energy. We are immensely proud of all that we have accomplished. As SBG continues our transition to a global investment holding company focused on accelerating the deployment of artificial intelligence, we believe now is the right time to bring in the Adani Group to help drive the next phase of SB Energy India’s growth.”

Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, said “I am delighted that SB Energy has found a good home to carry on its pioneering journey of building a foremost renewable energy company in India. Adani Group has an outstanding track record of building a green energy powerhouse which will get further acceleration with the combination of SB Energy into its fold. I am glad that Bharti could play a constructive role in partnership with SoftBank.”

The target portfolio consists large scale utility assets with 84 percent solar capacity (4,180 MW), 9 percent wind-solar hybrid capacity (450 MW) and 7 percent wind capacity (324 MW). The portfolio comprises of 1,400 MW operational solar power capacity and a further 3,554 MW is under construction. All projects have 25 year PPAs with sovereign rated counterparties such as Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd. (SECI), NTPC Limited and NHPC Limited. The operating assets forming part of the portfolio are primarily solar park based projects and have been built following best in class governance, project development, construction, and operations and maintenance practices, resulting in this being one of the highest quality renewable portfolios in the country. Adani SB Energy

With this acquisition, AGEL will achieve total renewable capacity of 24.3 GW and operating renewable capacity of 4.9 GW. “This acquisition demonstrates AGEL’s intent to be the leader in sustainable energy transition globally and makes it one of the largest renewable energy platforms in the world. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary approvals and conditions,” the firm stated.

Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group, said “this acquisition is another step towards the vision we stated in January 2020, wherein we laid out our plans to become the world’s largest solar player by 2025 and thereafter the world’s largest renewable company by 2030. India, without any doubt, has been one of the few nations that has accelerated its global commitment towards climate change and we intend to do our part to execute on the promises made. 

The renewable energy platform that we are building will lay the foundation for attracting several other global industries that are increasingly looking to reduce their carbon footprint (as well as lay the foundation for opening up adjacent platforms that include Hydrogen and Storage). We are well on our way to achieve our stated solar portfolio targets four years before the deadline we set for ourselves. The quality of assets that SoftBank and the Bharti Group have built are excellent and I compliment their efforts to support India’s renewable energy transition. We are proud to take their legacy forward.”

Before securing the deal with Adani Green Energy, SoftBank was in talks with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) to sell its controlling stake in the Indian renewable energy developer for over a year.