News & Analysis

I Squared-backed Viridian swoops for 43MW wind assets

The Irish energy company, which was acquired by I Squared earlier this year for €1bn, has bought two wind farms in Northern Ireland.

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Viridian, an Irish energy group owned by I Squared Capital, has acquired two wind farms in Northern Ireland with a total capacity of 43MW.

The projects remain under development and are scheduled to begin operations in 2018. Viridian declined to provide further information on the identity and value of the projects.

“These acquisitions are consistent with our medium-term strategy to grow our wind generation portfolio to 300MW,” Ian Thom, Viridian Group’s chief executive, said in a statement. “When added to the 246MW of wind assets operational or under construction, these wind farms represent substantial progress towards this target.”

In addition to its wind assets under ownership, Viridian also operates a power business underpinned by long-term power purchase agreements. The two units combined give Viridian a wind portfolio of over 1GW.

I Squared bought the company, which has an annual turnover of about €2 billion, in March in a deal worth about €1 billion. Viridian was previously owned by Bahraini private equity firm Arcapita. I Squared was said to have beaten off competition from Centrica, EQT and AMP Capital in its bid to acquire the business.