AGEL Buys SB Energy from Soft Bank, Bharti for $3.5 Bn in India’s Largest Renewables M&A Deal

In a significant milestone towards achieving the 25 GW target, Adani Group’s renewable energy arm Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) has signed share purchase agreements for the acquisition of an entire stake in SB Energy India from SoftBank and Bharti Group for about USD 3.5 billion.

SB Energy India is an 80:20 joint venture (JV) between Japan’s SoftBank Group Corporation (SBG) and Bharti Group and houses 4,954 MW of renewable assets spread across four states in India.

The transaction marks the largest acquisition in the renewable energy sector in the country, and is expected to be completed by August this year, subject to customary approvals and conditions.

The move will enable Adani Green Energy to achieve its target renewable portfolio of 25 GW 4 years ahead of the target timeline.

Post transaction completion, the company would have a total renewable capacity of 24,294 MW including 14,874 MW awarded and under implementation projects and 4,500 MW projects where AGEL has been declared as L1 bidder.

Commenting on the development, Gautam Adani, Chairman of Adani Group, said, “this acquisition is another step towards the vision we stated in January 2020, wherein we laid out our plans to become the world’s largest solar player by 2025 and thereafter the world’s largest renewable company by 2030.”

“The renewable energy platform that we are building will lay the foundation for attracting several other global industries that are increasingly looking to reduce their carbon footprint (as well as lay the foundation for opening up adjacent platforms that include Hydrogen and Storage). We are well on our way to achieve our stated solar portfolio targets four years before the deadline we set for ourselves,” he added.

Speaking on the deal, Masayoshi Son, Representative Director, Corporate Officer, Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., said, “we established SB Energy India in 2015 with the goal of creating a market-leading clean energy company to help fuel India’s growth with clean and renewable sources of energy. We are immensely proud of all that we have accomplished. As SBG continues our transition to a global investment holding company focused on accelerating the deployment of artificial intelligence, we believe now is the right time to bring in the Adani Group to help drive the next phase of SB Energy India’s growth.”

“I am delighted that SB Energy has found a good home to carry on its pioneering journey of building a foremost renewable energy company in India. Adani Group has an outstanding track record of building a green energy powerhouse which will get further acceleration with the combination of SB Energy into its fold. I am glad that Bharti could play a constructive role in partnership with SoftBank,” commented Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises.