NextEnergy European Solar Targets $2.2 Billion Value in 4 Years

(Bloomberg) — NextEnergy European Solar Utility Plc, an
investment firm managed by NextEnergy Capital, is targeting a
valuation of as much as 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) within
four years as it eyes solar parks in Spain and Italy.

The fund, which is holding an initial share sale in London,
seeks as much as 2 gigawatts of generation capacity, Michael Bonte-Friedheim, chief executive officer and co-founder of
NextEnergy Capital, said Tuesday by phone. It remains on course
to raise 300 million euros by mid-July, he said.

Investors such as NextEnergy are shrugging off European
market uncertainty as Greece nears economic meltdown, banking on
the steady revenues and high dividend yields that solar
provides.

“If you look at the recent gyrations over the past months
and due to Greece over the past one to two days, the listed
solar sector has behaved in an uncorrelated way,” Bonte-Friedheim said. “The underlying income generated by these
assets isn’t determined by short-term political movements. They
have a very stable income flow.”

The fund will channel money into operational solar
facilities in Spain and Italy, where a boom in the technology
led to retroactive cuts in state subsidies. That allowed
governments to introduce legislation they’re now “comfortable”
with, reducing the risk of future policy changes, the CEO said.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Louise Downing in London at
ldowning4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
Amanda Jordan, Randall Hackley

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