By Pietro Lombardi and Andres Gonzalez
MADRID/LONDON Inditex founder Amancio Ortega's investment firm Pontegadea is pushing further into renewable energy, closing in on a deal with Repsol to buy a 49% stake in its wind farms and photovoltaic power plants in Spain, two sources familiar with the deal told Reuters.
The Spanish fashion retail billionaire's potential acquisition would expand Pontegadea's investments in renewable energy. His family office has already bought minority stakes in energy assets, such as a 5% stake in Spanish gas grid operator Enagas's renewable and hydrogen unit Enagas Renovable.
The Repsol renewable projects up for sale have a total capacity of about 600 megawatts and the transaction values them around 700 million euros ($747.18 million), sources said. The agreement may come as soon as next week, one of the sources said.
A Repsol spokesperson declined to comment.
"As usual, we do not have any comments on rumours about market operations while they are open," a spokesperson for Pontegadea said.
The deal is in line with Repsol's strategy to fund its shift from oil and gas to renewables by selling minority stakes in renewable projects. Other companies, such as Spanish utility Iberdrola, are following the same script, raising cash to invest in new projects by selling stakes in more advanced ones.
The Spanish oil company has sold stakes in other projects to Pontegadea. In 2021, Repsol sold Pontegadea a 49% stake in a separate wind farm for 245 million euros.
Pontegadea booked a net profit of 2 billion euros last year, up from 1.6 billion euros in 2021, mainly due to dividends from Inditex.
($1 = 0.9369 euros)
(Reporting by Pietro Lombardi and Andres Gonzalez, editing by Inti Landauro and Louise Heavens)
