Thai energy company Banpu is firming as the front runner in the contest to buy New Energy Solar’s Australian operations, according to sources.
Final bids are due on Monday in the competition for the ASX-listed group.
Palisade Investment Partners together with First Sentier Investors, Melbourne-based Lighthouse Infrastructure and Infrastructure Capital Group were also in the final stages of the competition, but the thinking now is that Banpu is out in the front of the field.
On offer are New Energy Solar’s 110-megawatt Beryl plant and 55MW Manildra facilities in NSW.
Banpu, advised by Azure Capital, is a Thai energy company with about $12bn of assets under its management and in recent years, it has generated close to $300m of net income.
It already owns Centennial Coal, which operates five mines in NSW that supply coal for export, and about 40 per cent of NSW’s coal-fired electricity.
The company sells about 40 per cent of its coal to export markets, primarily for use in power stations and steel mills in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Europe.
Should Banpu emerge as the successful contender for New Energy Solar, as anticipated, it will show that it is prepared to put what has been an uneasy experience with running coal assets in this market to one side and instead try its hand in the Australian clean energy space.
Banpu’s three core businesses are energy resources, including coal and gas; energy generation, which includes conventional energy and renewable energy; and energy technology, which includes wind and solar solutions, storage systems and energy technologies.
The market value of New Energy Solar is currently at $289.5m and the assets have underperformed on the listed market, prompting a sale where a private investor would ascribe to them more value.
It comes amid a period of consolidation in the industry with investors in solar and wind farms needing more diversified portfolios, rather than taking on risk with a single asset.
The listed New Energy Solar announced to the market last year that, following a strategic review, it had opted to sell its Australian solar farms.
The portfolio is up for sale through the Royal Bank of Canada.
As well as its Australian portfolio, New Energy Solar owns 14 solar projects in the US.
New Energy Solar’s Australian solar farms have been described as being in a mature operational state compared with its larger US portfolio, which totals 606MW of capacity.
The company listed at $1.50 in 2017 and its shares late Tuesday were trading at about 81c.
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