The EU has given the go-ahead for a deal between Norway’s Kommunal Landspensjonskasse (KLP) and Swedish pension fund AMF to buy the biggest wind power company in Sweden.
The deal, first announced in late June, will involve KLP and AMF investing roughly SEK2.5bn (€235m) in Stena Renewable, taking stakes of 30% and 35% of the firm respectively.
KLP and AMF will buy Stena Renewable’s shares from Stena Adactum, an investment company that is part of the Swedish privately-owned group Stena Sphere.
The European Commission, which looked at the deal under its simplified merger review procedure, said the proposed acquisition would not raise competition concerns because it would not result in any overlaps.
KLP said it would pay around SEK650m for its 30% stake in Stena Renewable. It added that it expected to invest as much as SEK1.5bn through the financing of future projects up until 2021.
AMF, meanwhile, said it was paying roughly SEK750m for 35% of the company, and over the next few years intended to invest a further SEK1bn in future projects.
Stena Renewable is Sweden’s largest onshore wind power company with 94 plants and an installed capacity of 244MW, according to KLP.
The firm also has a project portfolio of 150-200 wind turbines, with a planned installed capacity of more than 600MW, which it said would involve future investment of around SEK6bn.
Aage Schaanning, KLP’s group finance director, said in June that the investment fitted in with the pension provider’s commitment to sustainable investments as well as its desire to find attractive, stable and predictable investment opportunities.
Meanwhile Javiera Ragnartz, CIO at AMF, said the investment was part of her pension fund’s work to improve its risk diversification, broaden its portfolio, and boost its ability to deliver competitive returns at a time when interest rates were low and stock markets uncertain.
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