U.S. Fund Buys Stake in Unit of Spain's ACS

MADRID--U.S. private-equity fund Global Infrastructure Partners has agreed to buy up to 24.4% of a renewable energy unit that Spanish builder Actividades de Construccion y Servicios plans to spin off, ACS said.

The financial terms will depend on the price ACS gets when it sells shares in the unit, Saeta Yield SA, in a planned initial public offering.

Spanish media has reported that ACS is seeking a valuation of roughly EUR1 billion ($1.16 billion) for the business.

ACS said in a regulatory filing that GIP will also acquire a 49% stake in a new company that will group renewable energy assets under development by ACS.

The deal between the New York infrastructure investor and the Madrid-based construction company is conditional on the planned listing of Saeta Yield going ahead and on authorization from competition regulators, ACS added.

ACS said earlier this month that it plans to sell 51% of Saeta Yield, which initially will own 16 wind farms and three solar plants totaling 689 megawatts of installed energy generation capacity. The company will have a "right of first refusal" option to buy renewable energy assets under development by ACS, in Spain and elsewhere.

Saeta Yield is structured as a yield company--known on Wall Street as yieldcos--that are publicly traded firms that hold assets producing a steady and predictable flow of income, such as energy plants, that have long-term distribution agreements. The cash flow is distributed among investors in the vehicle as dividends.

Write to Christopher Bjork at [e-mail]

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