The firm headed by the founder of Airtricity is raising €100m to build wind farms
Eddie O’Connor set up Mainstream Renewables after selling his previous company for €1.4 billion.
IRISH RENEWABLE ENERGY firm Mainstream Renewables said it plans to raise at least €100 million as it announced that it bounced back into profit last year.
The Dublin-based company, which is headed up by Airtricity founder Eddie O’Connor, said today that it made an after-tax profit of €96 million in 2015 compared to a €47 million loss the year before. O’Connor set up Mainsteam in 2008 after Airtricity was sold for about €1.4 billion.
During the year, Mainstream restructured its debt while cutting its corporate borrowings in half to just under €60 million.
Mainstream’s main operations consist of building renewable energy projects, mainly wind farms, in emerging markets such as South America and Africa.
Landmark year
The firm, which is aiming to have 1,000 megawatts worth of projects under construction by the end of its financial year, is in the process of raising capital of at least €100 million from “one or more investors”. US-based investment bank PJT Partners is leading the fundraising process.
Chief executive O’Connor said that 2015 was a “landmark year” for Mainstream. He attributed the company’s financial turnaround to a more focused business plan targeting growth markets.
Mainstream Renewables CEO Eddie O'Connor
“Following a review of our business activities in 2014, we implemented a business plan reflecting a renewed strategic focus,” he said.
“I am delighted to attribute the robust financial turnaround made in 2015 to the diligent implementation of our new business plan.”
€100m raise
O’Connor said that the company’s €100 million fundraising will be used to take advantage of “the growth opportunities available to us following the indication of a significant level of appetite from third party institutional and strategic investors”.
The company has decided to stop offshore wind development and focus on onshore projects. As part of this move, it sold its Hornsea One project, set to be one of the biggest wind farms in the world, off the coast of the UK for £82.9 million in the first quarter of 2015.
Mainstream also received a €28 million cash injection after transferring its three largest projects in South Africa to a special-purpose vehicle set up to handle their development as part of a joint venture between the Irish firm and London-based private equity company Actis.
