Aviva investors enters the capital of Innovo Renewables
It is the first investment in Italy by Aviva Investors, an investment fund of the British insurance company.
Milan, July 25, 2023 – Aviva Investors, the global asset management division of Aviva plc, the world’s sixth-largest insurance company and a leader in the United Kingdom, has acquired a 35 percent stake in Innovo Renewables SpA, an Italian company active in the development construction and management of renewable energy power generation projects in Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain.
This is the first investment made in continental Europe by Aviva Investors as part of its Climate Transition Real Assets strategy, which aims to make to investments that can help accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.
The agreement will give Aviva Investors the ability to hold up to a 50 percent stake in the company within the next 24 months and will enable Innovo Renewables to realize its development, construction, and operational plans, with the goal of transforming itself from a developer of renewable energy projects to one of the leading independent power generation platforms in Europe.
Currently, Innovo Renewables has a five-year pipeline of more than 2.8 GW of renewable power generation projects and storage systems in its target markets -Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain-, with ambitions to expand into new European markets.
As part of the agreement, Rodolfo Bigolin, founder of Innovo Renewables, will retain his role as CEO and Roberta Benedetti will be appointed non-executive chairman, bringing additional sustainability expertise to the management team through her established expertise in the sector. Roberta is a Senior Advisor Energy specializing in the renewables sector, with deep expertise in private equity and investment banking and experience that includes senior roles at Enel and E.ON.
Similar to its investment in Connected Kerb, announced in September 2022, Aviva Investors chose to invest in Innovo Renewables because it is a developer with enormous growth potential, capable of contributing to the energy transition and ensuring high performance over the long term.
Rodolfo Bigolin, CEO of Innovo Renewables, commented, “The entry of Aviva Investors less than a year and a half after the birth of Innovo Renewables represents a further milestone in our growth path. We are very proud that one of the leading asset management operators has chosen our company as its first investment in the Italian market and has believed in our development potential for the implementation of projects that contribute concretely to the ongoing energy transition process. The agreement with Aviva Investors confirms Innovo Renewables’ attractiveness in the market, following the announcement in December 2022 of Iberdrola Renovables’ entry into our subsidiary, iCube, to develop renewable energy projects in Italy.”
Darryl Murphy, Managing Director Infrastructure at Aviva Investors, said, “We are pleased to complete our investment in Innovo Renewables and support the company’s ambition to develop its power generation capabilities across Europe. We have ambitious plans to expand our Infrastructure Equity portfolio, which we see as central to the long-term growth and sustainability objectives of our Real Assets business. Importantly, this transaction sees us investing in Innovo as a whole, rather than in a single asset. We believe this approach represents the future of infrastructure investment, creating multiple income streams and providing our program with significant potential for future growth and scalability.”
Innovo Renewables was assisted by Legance for legal aspects and by Prothea and AD Capital for financial aspects. Aviva Investors was assisted by Ashurst.