Renewable

November 5 (Renewables Now) – US private equity firm Hull Street Energy has received a nod from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for an investment in the renewables joint venture of US giant General Electric Co (NYSE:GE) and Italian energy group Enel SpA (BIT:ENEL).

The go-ahead was granted on November 1 following the early termination of the transaction’s review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act, according to two notices published on the website of the FTC.

The investment is being carried out through Hull Street Energy Partners I LP and EGPNA REP Hydro Holdings LLC was stated as the target entity in the filings. The FTC’s notices did not provide any further details about the investment. The 2019 threshold for reportability under the HSR act is USD 90 million (EUR 80.8m).

Enel declined to comment when contacted by SeeNews. GE and Hull did not respond to our inquiry.

GE was said in March to be seeking to shed its 50% stake in EGPNA Renewable Energy Partners, according to a Reuters report. The business could be valued at over USD 1 billion, excluding debt, unnamed sources told the news agency.

Later in March, Enel bought seven fully operational renewable plants totalling 650 MW from the joint venture for USD 256 million in a deal with a total enterprise value of USD 900 million.

EGPNA Renewable Energy Partners was set up in mid-December 2016 when GE Energy Financial Service and Enel Green Power North America Inc agreed to turn their partnership into a joint venture.

The partnership started when Enel Green Power sold in 2015 a 49% interest in its 760-MW North American renewables portfolio to GE for around USD 440 million and set up EGPNA as part of this transaction. GE’s unit agreed to acquire an additional 1% stake in late 2016 for USD 10 million, converting the business into an equally owned joint venture.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.898)

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