Wednesday 15 August 2012

Power deals lull in 2012 was only “temporary”

A lull in deals within the power and utilities sector in the first three months of 2012 was only “temporary”.

That’s according to a new report from PricewaterhouseCooper’s (PwC), called ‘European Power & Renewables Deals’, which found “significant deal activity” is taking place in the European sector.

Although fewer took place between April and June, the money which changed hands was still impressive, buoyed by three multi-billion dollar deals counting for more than 90% of the total $19.6bn (£12.5bn).

Andrew McCrosson, a partner at UK power and utilities for PwC said: “Much of the power deals total came from two transactions for gas network assets – Open Grid Europe (OGE) in Germany and Snam in Italy.

“This is a significant milestone in the unbundling of Europe’s power utilities and also a major step towards a very changed grid ownership landscape. Companies will be eyeing up opportunities to gain a greater share of the European gas transmission market.”

The report showed Turkey appears to be up and coming, added Ronan O’Regan, PwC’s director of energy and renewables.

He said: “An increase in transaction activity in the Turkish market where a number of sizeable deals linked to wind developers highlights the emerging opportunities there.”