Investment managers KKR and BlackRock have reportedly dropped out of negotiations to acquire a significant stake in Acciona Energía (ANE). KKR apparently declined to proceed with the deal after acquiring Electricité de France’s North American renewables business for $4.2 billion. Meanwhile, BlackRock—which was participating through GIP—withdrew from the bidding after failing to meet the asking price set by the Entrecanales family: over €8 billion, an amount similar to the company’s market capitalization when it went public in 2021. Enel (ENEL-IT), owner of Endesa (ELE), has reportedly followed suit.
Conversely, financial sources report that EQT (the Scandinavian fund that recently acquired Urbaser), French manager Ardian, and Canadian fund Brookfield remain in the bidding. However, these same sources note that the European Central Bank’s (ECB) latest rate hike, which brought the benchmark rate to 2.5%, complicates M&A transactions. Notably, ANE had a net debt of €4.4 billion as of the end of last June.
