Brookfield Asset Management announced today that it has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire a majority stake in France-based global renewable energy developer at an equity value of €6.1 billion (USD$6.6 billion) from responsible investment company Impala.

Founded by Impala in 2008, Neoen is a producer of renewable energy, including solar power, wind power and storage, with assets across 16 countries. The company’s flagship operations include the largest solar power plant in France at 300 MW and in Australia at 460 MW, in addition to two of the world’s most powerful large-scale storage plants, both in Australia, the largest onshore wind farm in Finland, and a 375 MW solar power plant in Mexico.

The company has seen significant growth over the past few years, with capacity in operation and under construction increasing six-fold to 8GW, and targeted capacity of 10 GW by 2025.

Under the terms of the negotiations, Brookfield, together with its institutional partners including Brookfield Renewable and Temasek would acquire a 53% stake in Neoen from Impala for €39.85 per share, a 27% premium to the last trading price, and would subsequently file a mandatory cash offer for the remaining shares at the same price.

Jacques Veyrat, Founder and President at Impala said:

“Impala is delighted to sell the control of Neoen to Brookfield, a responsible actor and world leader in the renewable energy market . Impala created Neoen 15 years ago and have since then supported every stage of its development in France and then internationally, with an outstanding success in Australia.”

The deal marks the latest in a series of large-scale clean energy transactions for Brookfield, including the recent acquisition of Duke Energy’s commercial renewables business for $2.8 billion, renewable energy developer Scout Clean Energy for $1 billion, and of Banks Renewables, one of the UK’s largest independent developers and operators of onshore wind farms for nearly $1 billion.

Brookfield stated that it aims to accelerate Neoen’s development and strengthen its position as a global leader in renewable energy.

Connor Teskey, CEO, Renewable Power & Transition at Brookfield Asset Management, said:

“We are excited to build on Brookfield’s expertise, track-record and access to capital to further accelerate Neoen’s growth while preserving its culture and identity. Acquiring Neoen further strengthens Brookfield’s global scale, while diversifying into key renewables markets and adding expertise in battery storage technology. We look forward to partnering with management to scale-up the business to meet the growing demand we are seeing for clean power.”