In October 2020, French concessions and construction company Vinci made a non-binding takeover offer for €5.2 billion to ACS Group of Spain for ACS Industrial Services that also operates the renewable energy business under the brand name of Cobra (see French Firm To Buy Renewables Business From ACS Group).
Six months later, the 2 have signed a binding agreement which enables Vinci to acquire the energy business of ACS for a lesser price of €4.9 billion ($5.77 billion), bringing to the former's kitty all contracting activities of ACS Industrial Services, and the scope of the acquisition also covers an integrated offer for the realization of EPC projects on a turnkey basis mainly in the energy field.
Of interest to the renewables audience would be that the acquisition brings to the French company, the renewable project development platform of ACS that currently holds 4.4 GW developed in the last 3 years. This platform has identified around 15 GW of new opportunities in the short and medium term, mainly in solar PV and onshore wind power, along with close to 8 GW of potential projects in offshore wind power.
ACS also stands to receive an additional payment of €600 million over 8.5 years for the development of 15 GW renewable ready-to-build (RTB) capacity, priced at €40 million for each GW developed.
Vinci said its financial strength will provide the company with additional flexibility to develop, build and manage renewable energy assets. It also sees the group's current business model of contracting, concessions and O&M combined with the Spanish company's project development platform enabling it to become a 'major player' in the renewable energy sector.
Additionally, Vinci and ACS plan to launch a joint venture with 51:49 stake to acquire operational renewable energy assets.
The deal, pending regulatory approvals, is expected to be finalized towards the end of 2021.