Israeli renewable energy company Nofar Energy has acquired a 67% stake in US-based solar and storage developer Blue Sky Utility for a total consideration of $91m.
The acquisition price includes a $26m initial purchase and equity investment into Blue Sky and a debt facility of $65m offered for future growth investments.
Based in Napa, California, Blue Sky Utility is a renewable energy and storage firm that develops, builds and manages commercial and industrial (C&I) solar and storage facilities.
It currently operates and manages over 20MW of C&I assets and maintains a near term pipeline of more than 80MW new solar and storage installations.
Nofar founder and chairman Ofer Yanay said: “Nofar engaged in a thorough investigation of the US market, and through this process we became aware of Blue Sky and their unique business model.
“Blue Sky’s qualities resemble those of Nofar Energy; an emphasis on C&I projects, high level of scalability and uniformity and a set of capabilities and execution track record that present significant barriers to imitation.”
Nofar CEO Nadav Tana said: “we have singled the U.S. market as one of Nofar’s most important destinations and I am pleased to announce this significant investment.”
The transaction marks Nofar’s entry into the US, which is in line with its strategy to expand operations into the global markets and synergetic to its expertise in the C&I space.
Proceeds from the sale is expected to advance the execution of Blue Sky’s existing near-term pipeline and the execution of few solar projects in development.
For the transaction, Beta Finance served as financial advisor, Lummus Consultants as technical advisor, ICF as market advisors, and KPMG as accounting and tax advisors to Nofar.
Barnea Jaffa Lande & Co and WilmerHale served as legal counsel to Nofar, while Garrett Stiepel Ryder as legal counsel to Blue Sky.
Blue Sky CEO Barend Venter said: “Nofar’s excellence in the C&I space demonstrated real synergies. The combination of our two companies has the potential to create a real powerhouse in the local C&I space.”
