Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings acquires 50% stake in Portuguese wind operator

Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited (CKI) announced last week that it has entered into an agreement to pay a shares consideration of approximately €144 million (approximately HK$1.25 billion) to acquire a 50% interest of Iberwind - Desenvolvimento e Projectos, S.A., a wind energy company in Portugal.

Cheung Kong and Power Assets Holdings will each hold 50% in the Portuguese company, through a joint venture.

Completion is subject to approval from the Portuguese Competition Authority and is expected to take place by the end of 2015.

When this transaction is completed, CKI will become a new player in Portugal’s energy sector alongside a number of Asia Pacific investors, such as First State from Australia, State Grid Corporation of China and China Three Gorges Corporation from China, as well as Marubeni from Japan.

Iberwind - Desenvolvimento e Projectos SA was controlled by Iberian investor Magnum Capital, which earlier this year decided to sell it. Mangnum Capital controlled 65 % of the shares of the company.

According to reports, Brookfield Renewable Energy, US private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, and EFG Hermes of Egypt were also bidding for the wind firm.