Eric Scotto savors this moment. “Before, to develop a renewable energy project in the world, I had to convince people of the merits of the approach. Now, some heads of government are calling me to ask me to go faster”, says the president and co-founder of the electricity producer Akuo. The changeover dates from February 24, 2022, the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine which made States, particularly in Central Europe, aware of the need to produce their electricity locally. Until then, the preservation of the climate had not been seen as a sufficient argument.
For Akuo, the consequences are major. On February 16, 2022, Eric Scotto and his partner Patrice Lucas got into personal debt with the British fund ICG, on the basis of a five-year business plan, in order to buy back the shares of the minority shareholders in their business. A week later, the situation had changed: “The project portfolio has matured much faster than expected. We find ourselves today where we should have been in two years. » The operator, whose production capacity amounts to 1.5 gigawatts thanks to agrivoltaism in New Caledonia or wind turbines in the Dominican Republic, thus displays a ” pipeline » of 22 gigawatts in development.
To finance these projects, the independent operator is seeking “a strategic partner” likely to bring him ” a lot of money “without wanting to specify how much: “With my partner, we could lose the majority”limits itself to indicating Mr. Scotto, who refuses to give more details on “a confidential process”. In fact, according to people close to the case, many suitors have come forward, such as Voltalia, the renewable specialist controlled by the Mulliez family, and especially infrastructure funds: the French InfraVia or the Australian Macquarie.
“Essential” assets
Financiers are also on the lookout to buy Coriance, a heating network operator in Cergy-Pontoise, Ile-de-France, Castres (Tarn) or Laval, put up for sale by its shareholder Igneo Infrastructure Partners (Mitsubishi UFJ group) . Coriance is number three, far behind Engie and Dalkia (EDF), in a rapidly growing business because it is synonymous with energy efficiency for municipalities. “Imagine central heating applied to an entire district or even a city, this is the principle of the urban heating network”details the company on its website.
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