PNE AG: Sale of the remaining 20 percent stake in the wind farm portfolio completed

Cuxhaven, December 28, 2017 – PNE WIND AG completed the sale of its 20 percent stake in PNE WIND Partners GmbH (formerly PNE WIND YieldCo Deutschland GmbH) to Allianz Renewable Energy Fund II (AREF II). The investment company, which is managed by Allianz Global Investors GmbH, now holds all shares in the 142 MW wind farm portfolio. The purchase price for the 20 percent stake amounts to approx. euro. 23 million. The execution of the contract is still subject to the approval of the banks. PNE WIND AG continues to be active as a service provider for the technical and commercial plant management and the ongoing operation of the wind farms.

Markus Lesser, CEO of PNE WIND AG: “This successful sale enabled PNE WIND to further increase liquidity. This puts us in an even better position to build up the new European wind farm portfolio of up to 200 MW, but also to strategically expand our business. I am pleased about the confidence of the buyer, which is expressed among other things in the fact that PNE WIND remains responsible as a service provider for the day-to-day business of the wind farms in the long term.”

PNE WIND Partners GmbH bundles German wind farm projects with a total output of 142.5 MW. Allianz Renewable Energy Fund II (AREF II) acquired an 80 percent stake of the shares in the company as early as at the end of 2016. The financing of the wind farms was successfully optimised in 2017, which led to a subsequent purchase price payment to PNE WIND AG in the third quarter. Simultaneously, the enterprise value of PNE WIND Partners GmbH increased to approx. 360 million euro.

This sales transaction also serves to finance the establishment of the new European portfolio with a capacity of up to 200 MW, which is currently being built up by PNE WIND. The first wind farm with a capacity of 43 MW for this new portfolio has almost been completed and will go into operation at the end of 2017. Additional investments from the company’s own funds are planned for the complete or partial sale of the new portfolio in 2020. Until the sale, PNE WIND AG anticipates increasing proceeds from the electricity sales from its own wind farms.