African renewables platform Lekela moves to new owner Infinity Power

March 20 (Renewables Now) - Dublin-based renewables developer Mainstream Renewable Power and private equity firm Actis have completed the sale of their Lekela platform, Africa’s largest pure-play renewables independent power producer (IPP), to Infinity Power.

The deal, with an enterprise value of some USD 1.5 billion (EUR 1.4bn), was first announced in July 2022. Mainstream said it expects about USD 90 million in net proceeds from the exit.

Lekela has more than 1 GW of operational wind farms in South Africa (624 MW), Egypt (252 MW) and Senegal (159 MW), as well as 1.8 GW of projects in different stages of development.

The buyer, Infinity Power, is a joint venture between Egypt’s Infinity and Masdar. Among Infinity’s stakeholders are the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The acquisition was funded through equity plus debt from Absa Corporate and Investment Banking and Mauritian Commercial Bank (MCB).

Infinity Power chairman Mohamed Ismail Mansour said the company will build on the acquisition to reach its target of installing and operating 2 GW of greenfield projects by 2025.

Mainstream group chief executive Mary Quaney commented that Mainstream’s 150-strong South African team is focused on bringing the company’s 11.5-GW pipeline of wind and solar projects in South Africa to fruition in the current decade and beyond.

The Lekela platform was created in 2015 as a joint venture between Actis with a 60% stake and a Mainstream-led consortium named Mainstream Renewable Power Africa Holdings (MRPAH) with 40%.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.941)