An African wind power platform called Lekela Power’s whole stake has been acquired by Infinity Power, a joint venture between Egypt’s Infinity and the sustainable energy firm Masdar in the UAE. The transaction, which made Infinity Power the biggest renewable energy company in Africa, was first announced in July, according to a statement from Masdar on Monday. The transaction’s value was kept confidential.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Africa Finance Corporation are two of Infinity’s major partners. In addition to 1.8 gigawatts of projects in various phases of development around the continent, Lekela’s portfolio includes 1 gigawatt of operational wind generating plants in South Africa, Egypt, and Senegal.
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Cop28 President-designate and chairman of Masdar, said: “This acquisition will give Infinity Power greater scale to deploy practical climate solutions that deliver measurable outcomes, in line with the COP28 objective of being inclusive, transparent, pragmatic and results-oriented.” He added that this is the decade to provide clean energy the world needs
“We can already see that the backing of Lekela’s new investors, Infinity Power, will make our next chapter exciting,” Lekela chief executive Chris Antonopoulos said. “We remain committed to delivering clean, reliable power for communities and countries across Africa.” According to the release, the deal was funded by debt from Absa Corporate and Investment Banking (Absa CIB) and Mauritius Commercial Bank and equity investment from shareholders (MCB). Infinity Power was also given transactional advice by Cantor Fitzgerald, Absa CIB, Norton Rose Fulbright, Al Kamel Legal, Ernst & Young, and AFRY. The Mandated Lead Arrangers on the acquisition financing facilities were Absa CIB and MCB.