Sandbrook Capital, PSP, and IMCO to Acquire NeXtWind Capital
Posted on 08/09/2023
Sandbrook Capital, alongside co-investors Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) and the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO), have signed an agreement to acquire NeXtWind Capital Ltd (NeXtWind), a German renewable energy company specializing in acquiring and repowering onshore wind farms, from a syndicate led by Crestline Investors Inc,, an investment management firm head-quartered in Fort Worth, Texas. As part of the transaction, Sandbrook, PSP Investments and IMCO will commit up to US$ 750 million of equity capital to NeXtWind to acquire its existing portfolio of operating wind assets and to fund future growth.
NeXtWind’s management team, led by its founders Ewald Woste, Werner Süss, and Lars Meyer, have decades of experience in the German power market, having worked as executives and board members at companies such as E.ON, Vattenfall, and STEAG. Following the transaction and with a significantly strengthened balance sheet, NeXtWind will be well positioned to execute on its strategy of acquiring and repowering German wind assets. Germany is the largest onshore wind market in Europe with around 58GW of installed capacity at the end of 2022. According to the company’s estimates approximately 30% of this capacity (around 13,000 turbines) has been in service for more than 15 years, presenting a large addressable market of older turbines that will need to be repowered.
Crestline Europe was the lead investor in the first funding round raised by NeXtWind.
Advisors
Kirkland & Ellis advised a consortium led by Sandbrook Capital on signing an agreement to acquire NeXtWind Capital Ltd.