Scots tidal developer to sell Canadian JV holding
Atlantis chief says Canada will remain key market Follows on from last month’s news of reverse takeover
Tidal power specialist Atlantis Resources is offloading its stake in its Canadian joint venture in a move that will allow the firm to focus on projects such as its ground-breaking Meygen scheme in the Pentland Firth.
The Edinburgh-headquartered group said it had agreed to sell the stake in the JV to its partner and renewable energy developer, DP Energy, at the “Force” facility in Nova Scotia.
The two firms have entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement for the disposal of Atlantis’ 50 per cent interest in Atlantis Operations (Canada), which will be renamed after the deal is completed.
Atlantis said the transaction would allow its project development team to focus on other opportunities in the UK, Europe and Asia, while enabling the DP Energy team to further focus its efforts on the successful development of the tidal in-stream power generation sector in Nova Scotia.
Following completion of the deal, Atlantis’ turbine and engineering services division will continue to participate in all future tenders in Canada as an equipment and services supplier.
Tim Cornelius, chief executive of Atlantis, said: “Following completion of this transaction, Atlantis will continue to actively offer and market its world leading turbine systems, subsea connection equipment,offshoreconstruction and project management services to all developers in Nova Scotia at Force and as the larger arrays are built out in the Bay of Fundy.
“Canada remains an important growth market for the group,” he stressed.
Cornelius added: “The transaction also affords us the opportunity to focus on our ongoing successful development programme at Meygen in Scotland and pursue our ambitions to develop on identified opportunities for us in France, South Korea, the Philippines and other south-east Asian locations.”
Simon De Pietro, DP Energy director, said: “The transaction adds further depth to the rapidly expanding portfolio of renewable energy projects of the DP Energy group of companies worldwide.”
Last month, Atlantis Resources took a major step to becoming a global player by joining the business empire of billionaire industrial magnate Sanjeev Gupta.
In a reverse takeover, the tidal power firm is acquiring Uskmouth power station in south Wales from Simec Energy, a subsidiary of Gupta’s GFG Alliance. In return, Simec will receive a 49.99 per cent holding in Atlantis Resources, which will be renamed Simec Atlantis Energy.
Atlantis Resources is quoted on the London Stock Exchange’s smaller Alternative Investment Market, and the deal also marks Gupta’s first connection with the publicly listed sector.
sreid@scotsman.com