- Eni is in exclusive talks with Ares to sell a 20% stake in Plenitude, valuing the renewable and retail unit at over €12 billion.
- The deal supports Eni’s strategy of attracting external investment to fund its low-carbon transition through minority stake sales.
Italian energy group Eni has entered exclusive negotiations with Ares Alternative Credit Management to sell a 20% stake in Plenitude, its renewable energy and retail business. The move aligns with Eni’s broader strategy to pivot towards low-carbon operations while attracting external investment through minority stake sales.
In a statement released on Thursday, May 15, Eni said the talks are based on an equity valuation of Plenitude between €9.8 billion and €10.2 billion, which increases to over €12 billion ($13 billion) when debt is included.
The proposed deal reflects a growing appetite for green energy investments and signals Ares’s expanding interest in the Italian market. The Los Angeles-based investment firm, which managed $546 billion in assets as of March, recently announced the opening of a Milan office to deepen its presence in Southern Europe.
This transaction forms part of Eni’s ‘satellite’ strategy, which focuses on creating specialised entities, such as Plenitude or its upstream projects, that can independently raise capital. By offloading minority interests in these units, Eni can redirect funds towards its low-carbon transition without compromising its investment capacity in traditional oil and gas ventures.
Francesco Gattei, Eni’s Chief Transition and Financial Officer, previously noted that this approach helps balance the group’s dual focus on energy transition and hydrocarbon investments.
Eni emphasised that the Ares agreement followed a rigorous selection process involving several prominent international investors: “This process reaffirms the strong appeal of Plenitude’s business model and its ambitious growth prospects.”
Ares, a global leader in alternative credit, manages $359 billion of its total assets in that category. The firm specialises in asset-based finance, a model that uses pools of assets as collateral for lending. Tyrone Cooney, Ares’s Head of France and Southern Europe for Direct Lending, had previously described Italy as the ‘new frontier’ for private credit funds.
Mediobanca is acting as financial adviser to Eni, while UniCredit and Deutsche Bank are advising Ares.
The Plenitude deal follows earlier transactions using the same strategy. Switzerland’s Energy Infrastructure Partners (EIP) already owns 10% of Plenitude, acquired through two separate deals. The most recent transaction, completed in March, valued the business at over €10 billion, including debt. Additionally, KKR acquired a 30% stake in Enilive, Eni’s biofuels unit, earlier this year.
Beyond Plenitude, Eni is also in preliminary discussions to sell stakes in its emerging carbon capture and storage (CCS) business. The company plans to consolidate its CCS operations, spanning projects in Italy and overseas, into a dedicated business unit by the end of 2025.
Meanwhile, Eni is negotiating with Malaysia’s Petronas to create a joint venture that will manage upstream oil and gas assets in Indonesia and Malaysia.
These developments highlight Eni’s evolving strategy to remain competitive in a rapidly changing energy landscape, while offering investors exposure to both traditional and renewable energy sectors.