Back to In the Press
Wind and solar asset holders are still ‘driving withthe handbrake on’ as they adapt to rapidly changing market conditions, findsnew report from RealPort AG
Strategic misalignment with co-investors may restrictcontrol over asset optimisation, equity recycling, and business evolution
Berlin, February 3rd – A lack of control, stemming from misaligned investor strategies, is stopping owners of European wind and solar sites evolving their business models in response to dramatic market changes, according to a new report from RealPort AG.
Tackling control issues in renewables, launched today, finds that the unprecedented supply and demand crunch in European renewables has placed a high premium on asset control among investors and owners.
Without control, asset holders have seen their options for portfolio growth increasingly restricted, and, most importantly, their desire to evolve new business models thwarted.
Amid scarce assets and skyrocketing prices, business model innovation is seen as a necessity by many. Fund managers want to get involved earlier in the development cycle, taking on higher risks in the pursuit of greater returns. Developers seek to evolve into independent power producers (IPPs), holding onto assets to take advantage of stable yields. Utilities and large financial players are acquiring smaller developers and IPPs, leading to increasingly complex ownership structures.
In each of these cases, asset holders need both access to capital and the ability to retain control over strategic decision-making. However, as the number of capital providers that want a say in how projects are built and run grows, so too does the potential for misalignment and conflict that impacts progress towards commercial goals.
In the report, RealPort, a digital brokerage platform, outlines how unlocking ‘passive capital’ from a wide pool of small institutional and family office investors that have not previously invested in wind and solar at project level – and are willing to forego voting rights – will provide a solution to several emerging control challenges faced by asset owners.
“While renewable energy is a highly liquid market, asset holders bringing in capital at project level are too often forced to compromise on the control they have over their strategic decision-making,” said Ekow Yankah, RealPort’s Founder.
“RealPort’s goal is to help asset owners take off the handbrake by accessing a new source of passive capital that they can recycle into new projects – without ceding control to their co-investors. This enables them to be far more entrepreneurial and agile in pursuing opportunities for business model evolution – which in turn benefits those co-investors in the long run.”
RealPort’s platform, which aggregates passive capital from small institutions and family offices to address the mezzanine and secondary financing needs of asset holders, is quickly gaining momentum. Following the appointment of its independent Asset Selection Committee in December 2021, featuring industry experts Anthony Marsh (former Chair of the investment committee of the Green Investment Bank), Dr. Barbara Weber (best-selling author and partner at infrastructure manager B-Capital Partners) and Gurpreet Gujral (Managing Director at Atrato Group and former SVP Green Investment Group), RealPort has in its second phase opened up its platform to renewable investment managers, developers and utilities engaged in wind and solar projects in Europe.
Asset owners are invited to put forward their wind and solar projects for consideration and can contact RealPort via: [email protected]
To access Tackling control issues in renewables,please visit: Realport.co
RealPort is a digital brokerage platform giving European wind and solar asset holders access to a new source of passive capital at project level.
By aggregating passive capital from small institutions and family offices in exchange for tradable, bite-sized positions in single assets, RealPort can address the mezzanine and secondary financing needs of asset holders. This includes:
Raising equity quickly to finance specific assetacquisitions or co-investments.
Recycling equity to finance pipeline and portfoliogrowth.
Enabling the divestment of individual LPs seeking liquidity.
In each case, asset holders can retain control due to the passive structure of the investment.
RealPort is unique in automating compliance requirements and transaction and settlement processes, enabling issuers and investors to reduce transaction cost and time. The platform also integrates independent analysis to enable a transparent assessment of asset quality.
RealPort’s team of 30 works alongside a portfolio of well-established external partners including Ashurst, Deloitte, Scope, Societe Generale and Solarisbank.
www.realport.co
