I Squared Starts €2 Billion Sale of Utility Firm Energia

(Bloomberg) -- I Squared Capital Advisers, an infrastructure investment firm led by former Morgan Stanley executives, has kicked off the sale of Irish power producer Energia Group, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The Miami, Florida-based investor has started reaching out to potential suitors to gauge interest in the business, which could be valued at about €2 billion ($2.2 billion), the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. 

I Squared’s financial advisers are likely to send out formal documents on the sale in the coming weeks and the asset may draw interest from other utility firms and infrastructure funds, the people said. 

Energia recorded €375 million of adjusted pro-forma Ebitda last year, which excludes some items and certain remeasurements, according to its annual report. After taking into account under-recovery of the company’s regulatory entitlement, it generated €267 million of group Ebitda. 

The volume of deals involving utility companies has risen 52% this year to $59 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Deliberations are in the early stages and any agreement is likely to be several months away, the people said. 

A representative for I Squared declined to comment.

The sale of Energia comes as demand for electricity is expected to rise driven by investments into artificial intelligence and data centers. Iberdrola SA last year acquired a majority stake in UK grid operator Electricity North-West for about £2.1 billion ($2.7 billion). In February, Brookfield Asset Management agreed to spend $1.7 billion to expand its US onshore renewables business, indicating investors are confident in robust power consumption growth from technology companies.

I Squared bought Energia for about €1 billion in 2016. As an integrated utility, Energia supplies about 21% of Ireland’s total electricity requirements and is responsible for about 25% of all wind power capacity installed in Ireland, according to its website. The company owns about 358 megawatts of wind assets and also supplies gas and electricity to about 800,000 customers. 

I Squared, which oversees more than $38 billion in assets, has investments globally in sectors including power and energy, transportation and logistics as well as digital infrastructure.

(Updates with more details on published earnings, utility dealmaking in paragraphs 3-4.)

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