London asset management company acquires renewable infrastructure specialist for £358m

London based asset management company Schroders PLC announced it is to acquire a 75 per cent shareholding in Greencoat Capital Holdings Limited for an initial consideration of £358m.

Established in 2009, Greencoat is a specialist investment manager focusing on renewable energy infrastructure investing, including wind, solar, bioenergy, and heat. The company operates nearly 200 power generation assets across the UK, Europe and the US, with an aggregate net generation capacity of over 3 gigawatts.

This transaction is aligned with Schroders’ strategy to build a “comprehensive private assets platform” and build upon its position in the realm of sustainability.

Providing private capital for the energy transition required to achieve a net zero future is predicted to become “increasingly important” as governments around the world look to accelerate towards this goal.

The US and European market for renewable energy assets is forecast to grow by more than $1tn by 2030.

Peter Harrison, group chief executive of Schroders, said: “We are pleased to welcome the Greencoat team to Schroders. Greencoat is a market-leading, high growth business, with an outstanding management team, which provides access to a large and fast-growing market in high demand among our clients.

“Its culture is an excellent fit with ours and Greencoat’s focus aligns very closely to our strategy, continuing our approach of adding capabilities in the most attractive growth segments we can provide to our clients.”

Richard Nourse, who founded Greencoat in 2009, added: “We are all delighted to have found a partner in Schroders who sees the potential of our business and believes deeply in our mission to build a global leader in renewables investing.

“We are extremely proud of what the brilliant team at Greencoat has together achieved, creating a market-leading renewables asset management firm in the UK and Ireland, a strong platform in Europe and an important expansion into the US.

“Combining this team with Schroders’ global distribution network and expertise will enable clients to capitalise on the unequalled opportunity that our sector represents - a trillion dollar investable universe - and the chance to meaningfully support the global transition to net zero.”