Engie Brazil Energia’s acquisition of 5 Atlas Renewable Energy solar projects in Brazil was awarded Renewable Acquisition of the Year in Latin America.

Judges were impressed with the size of the deal and the impact it will have on the region.

Global Infrastructure Partners, a part of BlackRock-backed Atlas acquired the 5 projects, with a total of 545MW installed capacity, for R$3.24 billion ($540m).

The deal closed in March 2023.

One judge said: “Chucky deal size for LATAM, and probably the most significant renewable transaction in region.”

Indeed, the deal was the largest M&A transaction in Latin America, when it was announced in 2023.

The acquisition will increase Engie’s share of Brazil’s utility-scale solar generation capacity from 3% to 9%. Meanwhile, Atlas Renewable Energy plans to reinvest the BRL 3.2 billion from the transaction in new renewable projects in Brazil.

The submission said: “Over the past 6 years Engie has invested more than €3.8 billion ($4bn) in the energy transition in Brazil, including investments in clean energy and the implementation of transmission lines.

“With the decision to invest in these assets, Engie will benefit from contracted long-term assets at attractive returns and immediately contributive. The assets, situated in the states of Bahia, Ceará and Minas Gerais, are highly contracted in the long-term with 66% of commercial capacity allocated to the Regulated Market and the remaining 34%, in the Free Energy Market.”

The solar projects acquired are:

• Juazeiro (Bahia) – 120MW
• São Pedro (Bahia) – 54MW
• Sertão Solar (Bahia) – 90MW
• Sol do Futuro (Ceará) – 81MW
• Lar do Sol (Minas Gerais) – 200MW

The 5 solar plants are already operational, coming online between 2019 and 2023, and have power purchase agreements (PPAs) with several companies, including Anglo American, Dow, and Unipar, as well as in the regulated market.

Advisors to Engie:

• Santander – financial
• Tauil & Chequer Advogados (Mayer Brown) – legal

Advisors to Atlas:

• BTG Pactual – financial
• Latham & Watkins – legal
• Mattos Filho – legal