Mubasher: Qatar Electricity and Water company (QEWS) announced that Nebras Power Investment Management, a Dutch affiliate of Nebras, has inked a binding agreement to acquire a 75% equity stake in Zon Exploitatie Nederland Holding (ZEN), a leading developer and operator of solar power generation assets in the Netherlands.
The deal enables Nebras to foray into the attractive and fast-growing Netherlands renewable power market, according to QEWS’s statement to Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) late Sunday.
“The acquisition by our Dutch affiliate of a controlling stake in ZEN is the first step in the direction which we have planned since the very inception of Nebras 4 years ago,” Fahad Hamad Al Mohannadi, chairman of the board of Nebras, commented.
Under the agreement, ZEN has 96-MW of solar capacity in operation and plans to grow further, taking advantage of the supportive policy of the Netherlands government.
ZEN joins the growing portfolio of Nebras assets spread from Europe to the Middle East and South East Asia, confirming Nebras strategy of diversifying its portfolio.
“We will continue building our international presence and forming partnerships with local operators with whom we can achieve rapid growth. We were happy to support our Netherlands affiliate in executing this transaction for Nebras,” Khalid Mohammed Jolo, officer of Nebras, said.
Earlier in September, Nebras said it looked to foray into Netherland’s energy market by purchasing a 75% stake in ZEN.
The agreement’s total cost amounted to $20.1 million (EUR 17.14 million), and will be financed through Nebras Power’s liquidity.
It is worth noting that Nebras Power, a joint venture between QEWS (60%) and Qatar Holding LLC (40%), is expected to achieve an operating profit from the project.
For the second quarter of 2018, QWES reported a 9.1% year-on-year profit drop, recording QAR 419 million, compared to QAR 461 million in Q2-17.
By 12:07 pm Qatar time, QWES’s stock inched down 0.05% at QAR 191.
