German renewables firm Blue Elephant gets new investor, scraps IPO

Energiekontor AG

07/07/2021 14:36

FRANKFURT, July 7 (Reuters) - Blue Elephant Energy has
secured a 75 million euro ($89 million) equity investment from
Germany's billionaire Struengmann family and scrapped plans for
an initial public offering (IPO), the renewable energy company
said on Wednesday. 
    Athos, the Struengmann family vehicle that also has a
majority stake in COVID-19 vaccine maker BioNTech  22UAy.DE ,
will receive a 15% stake in exchange for its investment.
    Athos will also have the option to inject up to another 75
million euros into Blue Elephant. 
    "Even after Athos' investment, an IPO at a later date
remains an option", Blue Elephant Chief Executive Felix Goedhart
said.
    The deal values Blue Elephant at 1.45 billion euros,
including debt. 
    Blue Elephant, which competes with firms like Energiekontor
 EKTG.DE  and PNE AG  PNEGn.DE , operates solar and onshore wind
parks in Europe with a total capacity of about 1.1 gigawatts. 
    It also has a pipeline of equal size for solar capacity, in
cooperation with project developers.
    Valuations for renewable assets have soared, driven by
rising demand from various sectors, including oil, as well as a
global shift towards clean technologies and away from fossil
fuels.
    ($1 = 0.8460 euros)

 (Reporting by Arno Schuetze
Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((arno.schuetze@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30220133648;))