Greencoat Renewables PLC (“Greencoat Renewables” or “GRP”), a leading European renewable energy infrastructure company is in the process of applying for a secondary listing on the Alternative Exchange (“Altx”) of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (“JSE”).
The listing of GRP on the JSE is expected to become effective later this year, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals in South Africa which are well advanced. The Company will not place or issue any new GRP shares as part of the listing and will remain listed on the Alternative Investment Market in London and the Euronext Growth Market in Dublin.
The company's listing in South Africa is intended to diversify its shareholder base, position itself to take advantage of growth opportunities as market conditions evolve and enhance liquidity.
Business Overview
Greencoat Renewables owns and operates utility-scale energy transition assets in Europe. The clean electricity generated by these assets is sold to national grids and to corporates directly through commercial power purchase agreements (“PPAs”). High structural cash generation supports a progressive dividend policy and material reinvestment into the portfolio in order to maintain the NAV in real terms.
By acting as a long-term owner of renewable energy assets, GRP allows developers to recycle capital and enables investors to participate in the European energy transitions whilst accessing attractive returns.
GRP’s portfolio spans five jurisdictions in Europe that have strong fundamentals and benefit from either government backed tariffs or liquid merchant markets. In its first eight years, the ‘Article 9’ fund has successfully grown the portfolio to 40 assets and generates enough energy each year to power approximately 750,000 homes per year. The business has increased its dividends for seven consecutive years and, with a highly contracted portfolio of cash generative assets, expects to continue that trajectory going forward.
A key differentiator for GRP is that, through its investment manager, it benefits from on the ground teams of experienced operational and financial asset professionals who are responsible for the lifecycle management of the Company’s assets. Intensive asset management sits at the core of the Company’s strategy with a clear focus on growing income and capital values through a wide range of initiatives including yields improvements, development of ancillary revenues, technical enhancements and cost optimization. In response to the marked increase in demand for green energy from corporates, the Company has successfully entered into a series of long-term PPAs with a range of counterparties including those operating within heavy industry and technology sector.
The company is managed by Schroders Greencoat LLP, an experienced investment manager in the listed renewable energy infrastructure sector. Bertrand Gautier and Paul O’Donnell lead the team as co-portfolio managers, and Diarmuid Kelly is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
Bertrand Gautier, Partner, Schroders Greencoat LLP, said:
“Our business model is simple. Our assets convert wind and solar irradiance into clean electricity that we sell into the grid or directly to off-takers. We generate cash that we distribute to investors quarterly as part of a progressive dividend policy. Our dividend cover allows us to reinvest excess cash into the business in order to grow the portfolio which, in turn, provides an underpin to the NAV.
The business has a huge growth opportunity ahead of it as Europe continues to materially increase its renewable generation capacity as climate and energy security considerations increase.”
Paul O’Donnell, Partner, Schroders Greencoat LLP, said:
“Rapidly growing commercial demand for clean energy, accelerated by the hyper-scaling of AI and data centres, is supporting existing political support for the energy transition, with the EU looking to hit a minimum target of 42.5% of energy from renewable sources by 2030, up from 24.5% in 2023.
With a highly cash-generative asset base, disciplined approach to capital allocation, and a clear strategic focus, Greencoat Renewables continues to be ideally placed to play a key role this transition while delivering attractive yet stable, low-risk returns for shareholders.”
Diarmuid Kelly, European CFO, Schroders Greencoat LLP, said:
“The cash generative qualities of our assets combined with our intensive approach to asset management delivers Euro denominated returns that we think will be attractive to the South African investment community. Having met our dividend targets every year since inception and with a highly contracted portfolio providing strong visibility on future cashflows, we believe we are well positioned going forward.”
