Paris: Electricite de France SA (EDF) said that KKR & Co has agreed to buy its renewable power businesses in the United States and Canada, the latest landmark deal in the rush to amass electricity assets for the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
Financial terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed in EDF’s last Friday statement. The KKR deal comes after LS Power LLC had been in advanced talks to buy EDF’s North American renewable power business, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.
At the time, LS Power was discussing paying more than 4bil (US$4.6bil) for the unit, Bloomberg reported.
KKR has spent years building its power portfolio, focusing on renewables and gas assets, as electricity demand grows rapidly.
The investment giant agreed in September to pay US$10bil for a 45% equity stake in Sempra’s infrastructure arm, which builds liquefied natural gas projects.
Days later, TotalEnergies SE agreed to sell a stake in North American solar assets to KKR in a deal valuing the portfolio at US$1.25bil including debt.
The KKR moves have mirrored a larger pick up for takeovers in the US power industry as energy producers and utilities race to meet insatiable demand from massive data centre projects.
In May, NextEra Energy Inc agreed in May to pay about US$67bil in stock for Dominion Energy Inc in the largest power acquisition ever. — Bloomberg
