Milan, July 25, 2023 – Aviva Investors, the global asset management division of Aviva plc, the world’s sixth-largest insurance company and a leader in the United Kingdom, has acquired a 35% stake in the share capital of Innovo Renewables SpA, an Italian company active in the development, construction and management of renewable energy power generation projects in Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain.
This represents Aviva Investors’ first investment in continental Europe under its Climate Transition Real Assets strategy, which aims to make investments that help accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.
The agreement gives Aviva Investors the option to increase its stake up to 50% of the company’s share capital within the next 24 months and will enable Innovo Renewables to execute its development, construction and operational plans, with the objective of transforming from a renewable energy project developer into one of Europe’s leading independent power production platforms.
Currently, Innovo Renewables has a five-year pipeline of over 2.8 GW of renewable energy generation and storage projects across its core markets — Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain — with the ambition to expand into new European markets.
As part of the agreement, Rodolfo Bigolin, founder of Innovo Renewables, will retain his role as Chief Executive Officer, and Roberta Benedetti will be appointed Non-Executive Chair, bringing additional sustainability expertise to the management team through her extensive industry experience. Roberta is a Senior Energy Advisor specializing in renewables, with deep expertise in private equity and investment banking, and has held senior leadership roles at Enel and E.ON.
Similarly to its investment in Connected Kerb, announced in September 2022, Aviva Investors chose to invest in Innovo Renewables as it considers the company a developer with significant growth potential, capable of contributing to the energy transition while delivering strong long-term performance.
Rodolfo Bigolin, CEO of Innovo Renewables, commented: “Aviva Investors’ entry, less than eighteen months after the establishment of Innovo Renewables, represents a further milestone in our growth journey. We are very proud that one of the leading global asset managers has selected our company as its first investment in the Italian market and has believed in our development potential to implement projects that make a tangible contribution to the ongoing energy transition. The agreement with Aviva Investors confirms Innovo Renewables’ attractiveness in the market, following the announcement in December 2022 of Iberdrola Renovables’ investment in our subsidiary iCube for the development of renewable energy projects in Italy.”
Darryl Murphy, Managing Director Infrastructure at Aviva Investors, stated: “We are pleased to complete our investment in Innovo Renewables and to support the company’s ambition to expand its energy generation capabilities across Europe. We have ambitious plans to grow our Infrastructure Equity portfolio, which we consider central to the long-term growth and sustainability objectives of our Real Assets business. Importantly, this transaction sees us investing in Innovo as a whole, rather than in a single asset. We believe this approach represents the future of infrastructure investing, creating multiple income streams and providing our program with significant future growth potential and scalability.”
Innovo Renewables was advised by Legance on legal matters and by Prothea and AD Capital on financial matters. Aviva Investors was advised by Ashurst.