SunEdison (SUNE, Financial) is the world's largest renewable energy development company and is transforming the way energy is generated, distributed, and owned around the globe. The company has performed tremendously over the last few years, appreciating over 200% since 2013, and still has more upside to offer.
The company’s growth is still intact as it delivered 273 megawatts for Q1 2015, which is an all-time record for the first quarter. The company also set new records for megawatts in construction pipeline and backlog. The company has grown via acquisition and it doesn’t look like the company is going to stop in the near future.
Acquisitions of First Wind and Atlantic Power
On Jan. 30, 2015, SunEdison and TerraForm (TERP, Financial) announced the acquisition of Boston based First Wind. The assets are 500MW of operating US wind power and 21MW of operating US solar power as well as First Wind's wind development and asset management platform. The First Wind acquisition launched the company’s wind platform and it is already seeing tremendous value from the new acquired wind expertise.
On April 1, SunEdison announced an agreement with Atlantic Power, acquiring 521 MW of wind power portfolio of Atlantic Power.
Acquisition of Continuum
On June 16, SunEdison announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Continuum Wind Energy Limited, Singapore with assets in India. Continuum owns and operates 242 megawatts AC of wind power plants in Maharashtra and Gujarat states, as well as 170 MW of wind power under construction in Madhya Pradesh state, and has more than 1,000 MW of wind power plants in development across six states in India.
India is a core market for SunEdison and extends growth opportunities in wind and solar energy. With the acquisition of Continuum, a leading wind energy company in India, the company has added significant assets and a skilled wind development team to drive further growth in its renewable energy development platform. SunEdison aims to place the power plants acquired from Continuum on the operational call rights list for TerraForm Global.
Acquisition of Invenergy
On July 6, TerraForm Power and SunEdison signed a definitive agreement to acquire net ownership of 930 megawatt of wind power plants from Invenergy Wind LLC, the largest independent wind owner in the United States. This acquisition is expected to add a sizeable, high-quality contracted power plant portfolio to the TerraForm Power and SunEdison family of companies. These assets have a 19 year life and AA credit rating, and will generate $141 million per year over the next decade. This acquisition also comes with the opportunity to develop an additional 6.6GW of wind power projects and a further 2.5GW under construction.
In China, SunEdison announced the acquisition of 149 megawatts of operating wind plant. In India, 102 megawatts of operating wind plants and 38 megawatts of solar. The company is entering a new market, Peru, by buying a company called Latin American Power with 73 megawatts of hydro assets. In South Africa, the company bought a controlling stake in 34 megawatts of operating solar and wind.
Deal with Renova looks promising
Brazil is the largest electricity market in Latin America with strong growth in demand. SunEdison has announced that it will purchase a 15.87% stake in Brazil’s second largest clean energy project developer Renova Energia for a sum of $250 million. The company will acquire 336 megawatts of operating assets from Renova and the right of first offer on 534 megawatts of operating assets and 1.336 gigawatts of assets under development from Renova.
Conclusion
SunEdison’s acquisitions have helped it grow in the most important solar markets and have also enabled the company to enhance its offerings. The company’s acquisitions have certainly been a positive, and although SuneEdison hasn’t reported a profit, it still looks like a great buy due to its strong M&A policies.
