Gamesa selling solar unit to First Reserve

Madrid's Gamesa has agreed to a sale of its solar power division to First Reserve, a Greenwich, Conn.-based private equity firm, for €261 million.

Gamesa Solar develops, builds and sells photovoltaic plants and offers turnkey project management.

"After this transaction, Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica concentrates fully in wind energy, a highly technological activity where Gamesa is an international leader," said Guillermo Ulacia, chairman and CEO of Gamesa.

Gamesa manufacturers wind turbines and said it had a market share of 16 percent in 2006.

The company's solar unit was founded in 2005 and has over 100 employees. Gamesa said the unit had revenues of over €200 million and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of €25 million as of December 2007.

"Gamesa Solar has a leading position in the Spanish photovoltaic market that is among the most sophisticated in the world," said Francesco Giuliani, director of First Reserve.

"We plan to support the solar team in replicating this presence internationally. This is a platform investment into one of the fastest growing segments of the renewable space."

First Reserve's most recent private equity fund closed in 2006 at $8 billion, and the company dedicated approximately 10 percent of the fund to alternative and renewable investment opportunities.

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