Portuguese industrial conglomerate Altri has entered into an agreement with Energias de Portugal (EDP) to acquire 50% stake in EDP Produção Bioeléctrica (EDP Bioeléctrica) for €55m.
Image: Altri acquires stake in EDP Bioeléctrica. Photo: Courtesy of João Silas/Unsplash
The acquisition will enable Altri to gain full ownership in EDP Bioeléctrica.
EDP Bioeléctrica is a joint venture with Altri and EDP, which has been formed for forest management optimisation and to develop a single renewable source of energy, which is biomass.
Altri is acquiring 50% of the remaining stake through its subsidiary Caima Indústria de Celulose. Altri is acquiring the share capital, credits and voting rights that EDP holds, directly and indirectly, in the share capital of EDP Bioeléctrica.
The transaction is subject to prior notification to the Competition Authority, under the terms established in the competition legal regime and it is contingent to the decision of non-opposition by the Competition Authority and the decision is expected arrive in the second half of this year.
EDP Bioeléctrica is considered to be a reference player in electric power production market through forest biomass. It directly or through its wholly owned subsidiaries, operates four plants in Portugal. A new plant is being constructed and it is estimated to be completed in the first half of next year. Global installed capacity of all the plants including the new plant is 100MW.
Altri said: “This agreement will allow Altri to follow its strategy of continuous improvement in the integration between the biomass produced by the forestry activity and the production of energy from this renewable resource, increasing its capacity of actively contributing to the enhancement of the forest planning and management and, consequently, for its sustainability, a current and absolutely imperative concern for our country, which has been one of Altri’s priorities since many years.”
Founded in 2005, Altri is one of the Portuguese eucalyptus pulp producers. The company manages 84,000 hectares of forest in Portugal all certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) which are the main references for forest certifications worldwide, according to its website.