J-Power’s acquisition of Australia’s Genex was awarded the Renewables Acquisition of the Year in APAC with judges agreeing that it was a good submission of a complex transaction that was well executed. 

Japan’s J-Power, which already owned a 7.7% stake in Genex, in April 2024 entered into a binding agreement to acquire the rest of Genex for an enterprise value of A$1.04 billion ($690m).  

The scheme was unanimously recommended by the Genex Board and Genex shareholders received A$0.275 per share in cash, representing a 49% premium to the last undisturbed closing price on 1 March 2024 of A$0.185 per share. 

The deal forms part of the Japanese company’s efforts to boost its renewable energy assets, including overseas, by 1.5 gigawatts by end-March 2026  

J-Power is Japan's major power generator with many coal-fired power plants and hydroelectric facilities 

Meanwhile, Genex is the largest listed renewable energy generation and storage asset developer in Australia and the first non-Government entity to develop a pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) system in 40 years.  

The transaction, which closed on 31 July 2024, provided J-Power with 400MW of operating and late-stage construction projects (across solar, battery and PHES) and ownership of a development pipeline of generation and storage projects of more than 2.3GW, providing J-POWER a step-change in growth in the Australian electricity market. 

The deal, however, had to overcome complexities including other large minority shareholders and the legacy of a failed takeover attempt by another party in 2022. The transaction also required approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) as it included critical infrastructure.  

One judge said: “This was a complex transaction with P2P and scheme of arrangement, with all challenges successfully overcome due to buyer commitment and adviser capability. Thus creating a high quality platform in Australia, fully geared for future growth and value add.” 

Advisers to Genex: 

• Goldman Sachs – financial
• Gilbert + Tobin – legal 

Adviser to J-Power: 

• Macquarie Capital – financial
• MinterEllison – legal