Adani arm eyes Softbank’s majority stake in SB Energy
Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) is looking to buy Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp.’s majority stake in solar power producer SB Energy, said two people aware of the development. This follows the collapse of a plan to sell SoftBank’s entire 80% stake in SB Energy to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for an estimated $525 million.
Adani Green has begun due diligence of SB Energy, the people cited above said, requesting anonymity. Mint broke the story online on Sunday.
SB Energy has a portfolio of 7.7 gigawatts (GW) in India. Bharti Enterprises Ltd owns the remaining 20% stake in the company. Bank of America and Barclays were handling the sale process. France’s Total has invested $2.5 billion for acquiring a 50% stake in 2.35GW operating solar assets of AGEL and a 20% stake in AGEL. With 3.47GW operational capacity and 15.24GW portfolio, the Adani-Total JV plans to commission 25GW by 2025.
Spokespeople for SoftBank Group, Bharti Enterprises, Bank of America and Barclays Bank India declined to comment about the fresh stake sale plans with Adani Green.
Queries emailed to spokespersons for Adani Group and Total; Raman Nanda, SB Energy’s chief executive; and Rohit Modi, SB Energy’s country head and president-India, on Saturday remained unanswered.
There has been sustained interest in India’s green economy despite the turmoil caused by the pandemic.