Europe: largest corporate M&A deals in renewable energy by acquirer 2019

Renewable energy technologies generate energy from resources naturally replenishable in a human time scale and thus, foster the transition towards decentralization of energy production and decarbonization. The term mergers and acquisitions (M&A) refers to the process of two companies joining in one. In mergers, the two companies form a new entity, whereas in acquisitions, one of the companies takes ownership over the other.

Scaling up renewables through mergers and acquisitions

In 2019, the German RWE acquired the wind energy business from E.ON Climate & Renewables for nearly four billion U.S. dollars. All target companies included in this statistic were European targets. There are multiple reasons why organisations go through M&A. According to a survey conducted among European corporate executives, the leading motivation for considering an acquisition is growth in new geographies. From the perspective of the seller, the leading reason for selling is the necessity of greater scale and resources to be successful due to competitive factors.

Renewable energy technologies in Europe

According to Statista estimates, the gas, water and electricity sector accounted for approximately nine percent of the value of M&A deals in Western Europe in 2018. In terms of overall investments in renewables, wind energy was the most attractive renewable energy sector considering new capacity investments in Europe in 2018. Together, wind offshore and wind onshore accounted for more than one third of the total European new capacity investments.