Petronas green unit buys Australian renewables player Wirsol

Gentari Sdn Bhd, the clean energy platform of Malaysian state-owned oil and gas company Petronas, has acquired Wirsol Energy, the Australian renewable energy business of Germany’s Wircon GmbH, it was announced today.

The Malaysian buyer is getting a leading player in solar and energy storage in Australia with 422 MW in operating capacity and 765 MW of projects under development.

Financial details were not provided. Reuters recently reported that a deal was being finalised and that it could be worth up to AUD 1 billion (USD 689m/EUR 644m).

This acquisition represents an entry into the Australian renewable energy market for Gentari, which is pursuing a target of 30 GW to 40 GW in renewables capacity by 2030. Wirsol’s assets take its renewables installed capacity to 1.6 GW, located in Malaysia, India, UAE and Australia.

The acquisition was completed effective February 13, according to Gentari’s announcement.

Baker McKenzie, which advised on the deal, said it is one of the largest renewable merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions done in Australia.

"The transaction will give the new owner Gentari an established team and platform to continue to develop the portfolio to meet the country’s energy demands as we transition away from fossil fuel," said Baker McKenzie’s Raymond Lou.

“Australia offers strong market potential, underpinned by supportive government policies and a robust financing ecosystem, making the investment into Wirsol Energy a natural choice for Gentari,” commented Gentari’s chief executive Sushil Purohit.

In a LinkedIn post, Wircon said its future focus will be mainly on Europe and noted that all of Wirsol’s 30 employees will continue to be employed in Australia.

(AUD 1.0 = USD 0.689/EUR 0.644)

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