Salt Lake City-based FTP Power LLC (sPower) – a renewable energy owner, operator and developer – has been sold to AES Corp. and Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo).
sPower, which was capitalized by Fir Tree Partners in 2014, owns and operates more than 150 utility and commercial distributed generation systems across the U.S. and the U.K.
Arlington, Va.-based AES Corp. and Edmonton, Alberta-based AIMCo purchased sPower from Fir Tree Partners and its minority owners for $853 million in cash, plus the assumption of $724 million in non-recourse debt. In connection with the transaction, AES and AIMCo will each directly and independently purchase and own slightly below 50% equity interests in sPower.
Barclays served as the lead financial advisor and global coordinator to sPower for the transaction. Marathon Capital, CohnReznick Capital Markets Securities and Citi served as co-advisors to sPower.
Jeffrey Tannenbaum, chairman of the board of sPower and founder of Fir Tree Partners, says, “Clean energy is the future, and the opportunity ahead for sPower is very large. We believe AES and AIMCo are the right partners to support the company’s continued evolution and ambitious goals for clean energy development, job creation and greenhouse-gas reductions.”
sPower’s portfolio includes nearly 1.3 GW of solar and wind projects in operation or under construction and a development pipeline of more than 10 GW. Its wind projects include the 60 MW Latigo Wind Park in Monticello, Utah, and the 80 MW Pioneer Wind Park in Glenrock, Wyo. Both projects comprise GE turbines.
“With the help of Fir Tree, we have experienced incredible growth over the last three years,” says Ryan Creamer, CEO of sPower. “We are excited to become part of the AES/AIMCo partnership, and we are confident that it positions us to continue to grow, develop and maximize the platform that we have created.”
The transaction, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close by the third quarter.
Following the closed deal, AES says its ownership of renewable energy projects in operation and under construction will grow from 8,278 MW to 9,552 MW, including hydro, wind, solar and energy storage.
