Green Infra Limited has purchased BP’s subsidiary, BP Energy India Private Limited (BPEIPL), which owns and operates three wind farms in India with a total generating capacity of approximately 100 megawatts (MW), for a total cash-free, debt-free enterprise value of 4.622 billion Rupees (approximately $95 million), comprising a cash consideration received by BP of 1.779 billion Rupees (approx. $37 million) and net debt assumed by the purchaser of 2.843 billion rupees (approx. $58 million).
The transaction has completed today. Green Infra Limited is an independent power producer owned by funds managed by India’s leading infrastructure-focussed private equity company, IDFC Private Equity.
BP already has major business activities in India, with a total of over 1,500 staff in the country, and the group continues to actively explore new opportunities and long-term material growth options for all its Indian businesses. Castrol India is the market-leading supplier of automotive and industrial lubricants in the country; BP is evaluating a coalbed methane project in West Bengal and was awarded operatorship of a deepwater exploration block in the Krishna-Godavari basin off the east coast of India in late 2008; and the Tata BP Solar joint venture is a leading manufacturer and supplier of photovoltaic power systems. Today’s sale has no impact on these businesses.
Following a strategic review in 2008, BP decided to concentrate its global wind development activities on the portfolio of onshore wind development projects and opportunities that it had built up across the US. Over the past three years, BP has built a wind business in the US with interests in over 1,000 MW of installed gross generating capacity and more than 1,000 MW gross capacity at an advanced stage of development. In total, BP’s US wind energy portfolio contains almost 100 projects, with a total potential generating capacity of up to 20,000MW.
BPEIPL’s assets comprise three wind farms in India: a 40 MW capacity farm at Dhule, Maharashtra, which began operations in the third quarter of 2007; a 36.3MW farm at Bharmasagara and a 23.1 MW farm at Telagi, both in Karnataka, commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, respectively.
BP currently has interests in six operating wind farms in the US: the 400 MW Fowler Ridge I project in Indiana; the 300.5 MW Cedar Creek project in Colorado; the 100 MW Flat Ridge I project in Kansas; the 20MW Edom Hills project in California; and the 150 MW Sherbino I project and the 60M W Silver Star I project, both in Texas.
The net debt of 2.843 billion Rupees (approx. $58 million) referred to above comprises actual debt of approximately 3.450 billion Rupees (approx. $71 million) offset by cash and working capital of approximately 0.607 billion Rupees (approx. $13 million).
BP Alternative Energy Buys US Wind Company
BP announced today that it has purchased Greenlight Energy, Inc., a US-based developer of wind power generation projects. The purchase will allow BP to accelerate its plans to develop a leading wind power business in North America.
BP has acquired all the shares of Greenlight Energy for a consideration of some $98 million, excluding working capital and tax adjustments.
Greenlight is a developer of large-scale wind energy projects across the USA. Founded in 2000 and based in Charlottesville, Virginia, the company has a portfolio of some 39 mature and early stage development projects across the USA with a potential total power generating capacity of 6.5GW. This portfolio contains a number of projects which BP expects to be able to develop over the next five years.
The purchase will further accelerate the rapid growth of BP’s US wind power business, a key part of BP Alternative Energy, the company’s low-carbon power generation business. In July, BP Alternative Energy announced it had reached agreement with the wind project developer and turbine manufacturer Clipper Windpower to acquire a 50 per cent stake in a 2GW wind development portfolio in the USA as well as an agreement for the supply of turbines with a generating capacity of up to 2.25GW over the next five years.
“This purchase gives BP Alternative Energy immediate access to a large number of high quality wind development projects across the country, including a number of projects we expect to be able to develop over the next few years,” said Steve Westwell, chief executive of BP Alternative Energy. “We look forward to working closely with the Greenlight team, who have built the company over the past six years.”
“Greenlight went through a rigorous process to find a strategic partner that would enable the company to accelerate the development of projects in our pipeline,” said Matthew Hantzmon, Managing Director of Greenlight Energy. “The strategic mandate of BP Alternative Energy is a perfect fit to scale up our business and enable the build-out of Greenlight’s portfolio.”
