Arrium owner Sanjeev Gupta buys control of Ross Garnaut’s ZEN Energy
New Arrium owners the Gupta family will take a controlling stake in Ross Garnaut’s ZEN Energy business.
The Anglo-Indian Gupta family, which last month bought Arrium and its Whyalla steelworks, has agreed to take a controlling stake in Ross Garnaut’s ZEN Energy renewable power and battery storage business for an undisclosed sum.
The GFG Alliance, headed by British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta and backed by his father, Indian tycoon Parduman Gupta, today said its energy division had struck an agreement to acquire a 50.1 per cent stake in Adelaide-based ZEN.
The company will be renamed Simec Zen Energy and become part of a GFG energy business that already has 600 megawatts of power generation assets in Britain and another 400MW under development, including biofuels, hydro, tidal, wind and solar.
GFG’s acquisition of Whyalla and Arrium’s iron ore mines makes it one of Australia’s biggest power users.
“Given the (electricity) issues here, it has been a priority for us to take decisive remedial steps,” Sanjeev Gupta said.
“Combining our power expertise developed in the UK, and ZEN’s local knowledge in Australia, is a natural partnership.”
Under the plan, ZEN will partner with Simec to deliver cheaper, more reliable and environmentally sustainable energy for Simec’s mining operations in South Australia and Liberty OneSteel’s operations in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia acquired in the Arrium takeover.
Liberty House is Sanjeev Gupta’s company while Simec is run by Parduman Gupta.
ZEN says it uses a combination of energy sourced from new and existing power plants, demand management technologies and energy storage to deliver energy supply solutions at a competitive price.
The Adelaide company’s biggest shareholders are its chairman, Professor Garnaut and his wife Jayne.
His son, Anthony Garnaut, is a ZEN executive and holds a stake in the company.
“We have been looking for the right capital investor and strategic partner to help realise our plans, and have found the perfect match in Sanjeev and the SIMEC Energy team,” Professor Garnaut said.
“Their understanding of the energy dilemma this country faces, which is making much of our industry uncommercial and environmentally unsustainable, means we see the market need and opportunity in the same way.”
Mr Garnaut and company founder Richard Turner will stay with the company.
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