German solar firm led by former Q-Cells CEO seeks buyer

Energiekontor AG

14/07/2020 12:45

By Arno Schuetze and Christoph Steitz
    FRANKFURT, July 14 (Reuters) - German solar power plant
developer ib vogt GmbH, which is led by former Q-Cells Chief
Executive Anton Milner, has been put up for sale by its family
owners, a spokesman for the group said.
    Developers of wind and solar farms have attracted investor
interest because of the global expansion of renewable energy
resources as nations seek to phase out the use of fossil fuels.
    Founded in 2002, ib vogt has a pipeline of more than 5
gigawatts (GW) of photovoltaic parks and has built 1.15 GW worth
of projects. It also runs and maintains other solar projects.
    "I can confirm that our owner DVV has mandated Marathon
Capital to help us with an investor process," the spokesman
said, confirming what sources had previously told Reuters.
    Information packs were sent to selected investors in June,
he added.
    First bids are due next week, a person familiar with the
matter said, adding that the group could be valued between 200
million and 500 million euros ($227 million-$568 million),
depending on how its project pipeline was valued.
    Sweden's EQT  EQTAB.ST , France's Ardian, Germany's DWS
 DWSG.DE  and Switzerland's Partners Group  PGHN.S  and Swiss
Life  SLHN.S  were all looking at the asset, another person
said, while Canadian pension fund OMERS was also interested.
    EQT, Ardian, Partners and Swiss Life declined to comment,
while DWS and OMERS were not immediately available for comment.
    CEO Milner, a pioneer of the global solar industry, gained
fame as the head of Q-Cells, once the world's largest maker of
solar cells until it was bought by South Korea's Hanwha Corp
 000880.KS  when the panel market faced a supply glut.
    Developing turnkey solar parks and wind farms has proved
more lucrative than making equipment. German rivals to ib vogt
include Encavis  HWAG.DE , PNE  PNEGn.DE  and Energiekontor
 EKTG.DE .
    
    ($1 = 0.8809 euros)

 (Editing by Maria Sheahan and Edmund Blair)
 ((christoph.steitz@thomsonreuters.com; +49 69 7565 1269;
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