Neither Novenergia nor Total were prepared to disclose the agreed selling price but the Portuguese press reported a figure in excess of €600 million for a company which, according to Total, is worth more than €1 billion.
Novenergia’s assets include wind, solar and mini-hydro plants in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Bulgaria and Poland.
It is owned by a range of private and institutional investors including Portugal’s Gulbenkian fund.
Chinese government-owned Datang Overseas Investment also bid for Novenergia but encountered opposition from the Portuguese energy regulator ERSE.
The regulator publicly confirmed in November 2018 Datang’s bid was under investigation regarding monopoly issues arising from the Chinese State Grid Corporation’s stake in the Portuguese grid operator, REN.
ERSE’s decision, which was non-mandatory, was not made public but is believed to have been negative, according to analyst Helena Barbosa of Caixa BI.
The bid by another Chinese state-owned company CTG, to acquire 100% of generator EDP, is also facing difficulties from regulators, including Portugal’s ERSE.
