Mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity in the wind energy sector for the first quarter of this year (Q1 2012) was the strongest in terms of transactions since Q1 2010, according to a new report by Mercom Capital Group. M&A activity accounted for $872 million in 11 transactions; details were only disclosed for three of these transactions.
Wind downstream companies had the most deals, with four; followed by manufacturers, wind components, service providers and balance-of-system companies.
The top M&A deals were the $850 million acquisition of Seajacks International, a U.K.-based offshore wind power service provider, by Marubeni Corp. and Innovation Network Corp. of Japan; the $12 million acquisition of Fuji Heavy Industries' wind turbine generator business by Hitachi; and the $10.2 million acquisition of a 49.9% stake in OWEC Tower, an offshore wind turbine foundation designer by KV Ventus.
Venture capital (VC) funding for wind energy in Q1 2012 came in strong, with $240 million going into a record number of 12 deals, compared to just $12 million going into two deals last quarter.
Top VC deals in the first quarter included a $183 million raise by Element Power, a global project developer, and a $20.2 million raise by ReGen Powertech, a turnkey solution provider and wind turbine manufacturer. Other top transactions included an $18.6 million raise by project developer Leap Green Energy; a $10 million raise by Apex Wind Energy, a developer of commercial-scale wind facilities; and a $3.5 million raise by Pentalum, a developer of LIDAR for remote wind sensing.
