The European Commission (EC) has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of sole control of Terna Energy Industrial Commercial Technical SA (‘Terna’) of Greece by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC – Masdar (‘Masdar’) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The 3.2 billion euro deal by Masdar is the largest energy transaction on the Athens Stock Exchange and one of the largest in the European renewables sector.
The transaction was examined under the EC’s simplified merger review procedure and the EC concluded that the transaction would not raise competition concerns, given the companies’ limited market positions resulting from the proposed transaction.
This approval follows Masdar’s acquisition of 67% of the outstanding shares of Terna Energy in a deal announced on June 20, 2024. The transaction was completed at a price of 20.00 euros per share.
According to a press release, Masdar will launch an all-cash mandatory tender offer to acquire the remaining outstanding shares of Terna Energy, aiming for 100% ownership.
This transaction values Terna Energy’s total equity at 2.4 billion euros, with an enterprise value of 3.2 billion euros.
HE Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Chairman of Masdar, and COP28 President, had commented on the deal, “This investment reflects the UAE’s clear commitment to Greece and Europe’s clean energy development and it represents another major practical step in realizing one of the central goals of the UAE Consensus, to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030.”
Masdar, or Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC, is the UAE’s clean energy leader. Its CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi has previously said, “We look forward to completing the transaction and starting to work with TERNA ENERGY’s leadership team to supercharge their ambitious growth plans in support of Greece’s energy transition.”
Meanwhile, Georgios Peristeris, Chairman and CEO of GEK TERNA, and Executive Chairman of TERNA ENERGY, has also stated, “Our agreement with Masdar is a recognition of the great value of TERNA ENERGY and the result of the hard work of hundreds of people for more than 25 years. At the same time, it marks the beginning of a new era of even greater growth for GEK TERNA Group. It is also a strong vote of confidence for Greece and its prospects. TERNA ENERGY is the leading RES investor in Greece and a key pillar of the national effort to transition to a future with cleaner and cheaper energy for all. A future with greater energy autonomy for our country, based on clean energy that will be produced in our homeland. And we will continue on the same course with even greater power.”
This deal is expected to inject significant capital investment into Greece and other European countries, supporting TERNA ENERGY’s contribution to Greece’s National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) and the EU’s net-zero by 2050 target.
Terna Energy is also expected to play an important role in growing Masdar’s portfolio across Europe as it targets 100 gigawatts (GW) global capacity by 2030 in support of the global energy transition.
