Atlantis abandons current plans to acquire Green Highland Renewables
Simec Atlantis Energy, which is behind the pioneering Meygen tidal energy project in the Pentland Firth, has revealed that it is no longer proceeding with its purchase of a portfolio of Scottish hydro schemes as planned.
The firm, which is focused on sustainable energy and has offices in Edinburgh’s Fountainbridge, had announced in November that it had agreed to acquire Green Highland Renewables (GHR) from its largest shareholder Simec Energy in a £124.7 million deal.
Simec Atlantis Energy chief executive Tim Cornelius said at the time that the proposed deal was “one of the most exciting developments in the recent history of Atlantis”, with the firm later raising £5m to help fund the move.
The firm said in March that the acquisition of the 15-scheme portfolio was, on completion, “expected to provide an immediate and material contribution to the company of earnings and cash flow generated by a sizeable portfolio of operational hydroelectric assets”.
However, Simec Atlantis Energy said yesterday that after assessing the financing options available to purchase the renewables firm, the independent board directors of Atlantis “have now determined that an alternative transaction structure in relation to GHR would be in the interests of shareholders and therefore will not be proceeding with the acquisition of GHR as previously envisaged”.
Atlantis said it was in ongoing talks with Simec, a thirdparty infrastructure fund and project financiers regarding an alternative transaction structure to allow it to create shareholder value through developing high-value sustainable power generation projects across the UK and abroad. Atlantis told The Scotsman that it would comment further in due course.