With the acquisition of BRI, Ørsted enters the European onshore market. BRI, headquartered in Cork, Ireland, is a developer, owner, and operator of onshore wind farms. BRI has an attractive portfolio of 389 MW in operation and under construction, 149 MW advanced development, and more than 1 GW of development pipeline in Ireland and the UK.
Ørsted entered the onshore renewables business in 2018 with an initial focus on the US. Today, Ørsted's onshore business has reached a meaningful scale with an operating and in construction portfolio of 4 GW of wind and solar and a strong pipeline of further projects in development. The growth over the past year ranks the business among the five largest US constructors in terms of onshore capacity additions since 2017.
Building on the success of the US business, Ørsted has been evaluating opportunities to enter the onshore renewables business in Europe.
Mads Nipper, Group President and CEO of Ørsted, says,"In the US, we've built a strong onshore business with 4 GW in operation and under construction. The European market for onshore wind power is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, and with the acquisition of BRI, we get a strong platform that expands our presence in onshore renewables to Europe, allowing us to continue our successful expansion of our onshore renewables business."
Declan Flanagan, CEO of Ørsted's Onshore business unit, says, "We're excited to acquire BRI, which has a strong strategic and operational fit to Ørsted combined with what we believe to be very complementary business cultures. We've learned that, like Ørsted, the BRI team is ambitious, prioritize safety and quality, and strive to be a good neighbour in the communities they operate in.”
BRI's existing management team will continue to run the business which will be integrated into Ørsted's Onshore business unit over time.
The transaction is expected to close by Q2 2021.
The does not change Ørsted's previous EBITDA guidance for the financial year 2021. Subject to closing of the transaction, the expected investment level for 2021 will increase with the purchase price.
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