COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Denmark’s Orsted said on Wednesday it had agreed to sell a 12.45% minority stake in four of its operational British offshore wind farms to Brookfield in a transaction worth 1.75 billion pounds ($2.28 billion).
“Today’s transaction is an important milestone in the farm-down programme as part of our business plan, supporting our significant re-investment in new assets,” Orsted CEO Mads Nipper said in a statement.
Battling to restore investor confidence, Orsted in February trimmed its investment and capacity targets and paused dividend payouts as part of a major review.
The transaction, which includes stakes in the Hornsea 1, Hornsea 2, Walney Extension and Burbo Bank Extension projects, is expected to close by the end of this year.
“This is Brookfield’s first investment in UK offshore wind, which will continue to be a critical part of the energy mix and to support the growing demand we see for clean energy,” Connor Teskey, CEO of Brookfield Renewable and President of Brookfield Asset Management said in the statement.
Orsted will retain a 37.55% ownership interest in the wind farms, it said.
($1 = 0.7689 pounds)
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik)
