Solaria’s Real Estate Unit Seeks to Raise €150 Million

(Bloomberg) -- Spanish solar developer Solaria Energia y Medio Ambiente SA is seeking investors to inject about €150 million ($168 million) in its real estate unit, according to people familiar with the matter.

Under the plan, Solaria’s Generia unit would hold a capital increase that would give new investors a 49% stake, said the people, who asked not be identified discussing private information. The deal would value the real estate unit at about €300 million.  

The Madrid-based developer is seeking to raise the funds as part of its its long-term bet on land for clean energy projects, which it sees as becoming increasingly scarce in coming years. Generia, which specializes in buying, managing and leasing land to develop renewable energy projects, would use the money to buy more land. 

Earlier this year, Solaria hired Alantra Partners SA and Kutxabank Investment to find partners for Generia, which was created in 2022. The two lenders are now working with the unit to increase its capital.

Spokespeople for Solaria, Kutxabank Investment and Alantra declined to comment.

Generia has a portfolio of 20 lots of land that have already been leased to Solaria, totaling about 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres). It also has call options to buy an additional 55 plots, increasing the total area to over 5,000 hectares across five markets, with an annual rent of around €11.3 million. The company’s business plan entails a further expansion of the land pipeline to more than 13,200 hectares. 

Earlier in September, Generia reached an agreement with Repsol Renovables SA to provide the oil firm with services to search for land, negotiate with owners and sign leases.

(Updates with details on the land pipeline in the 6th parragraph.)

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