OMNI Features｜Italy to Launch €1.1bn Fund for Green Manufacturing．Private Equity Investment Firm KKR Plans €2 Billion Acquisition of German Encavis AG

｜Italy to Launch €1.1bn Fund for Green Manufacturing
Italy is to launch a new €1.1bn ($1.2bn) subsidy programme to support green manufacturing in the country, that could see manufacturers of electrolysis equipment in line for grants of hundreds of millions of euros. The European Commission (EC) on Friday approved the Italian government's use of some of its COVID recovery funds to part-finance the programme. The programme envisages direct grants of up to €350m for producers of green technologies, including electrolysers used to make renewable hydrogen manufacturing facilities.

Consider that H2 industries will compete with a wide array of other environmental industries for a share of the funds, including producers of solar panels, wind turbines, heat pumps, and equipment for use in carbon capture and storage. Cash will also be available for manufacturers of “key components” which are designed for and primarily used in green technologies (such as membranes used in electrolysers.)

｜Private Equity Investment Firm KKR Plans €2 Billion Acquisition of German Encavis AG
KKR & Co. Inc.'s offer to buy German renewable power producer Encavis AG in a rumored €2 billion deal would be the latest take-private transaction in the European renewables space, with private equity investors looking to the listed market as a destination for record levels of dry powder.[1]

Encavis has about 3.6 GW of wind and solar projects in Europe and ambitions to more than double its portfolio by 2027. Encavis aims to grow its renewables portfolio to 8 GW by 2027, including 5.8 GW of operating assets. It has 2.2 GW in operation today and a ready-to-build pipeline of 2.9 GW.

KKR has already acquired and delisted UK-based power generator ContourGlobal Ltd. and French solar developer Albioma in recent years, and in December 2023, it made an offer to buy Portuguese developer Greenvolt - Energias Renováveis SA.

Analysts said the trend is a symptom of a significant fundraising effort by private equity firms. Dry powder stood at an unprecedented $2.59 trillion globally at Dec. 1, 2023, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence and Preqin data.

Note: [1] Dry powder in the financial filed is used in reference to an individual company's cash reserves, or to an investor's liquid assets.

Reference: hydrogeninsight｜S&P Global