TotalEnergies Acquires Renewable Energy Developer VSB for $1.7 Billion
French energy giant TotalEnergies announced on Wednesday an agreement to acquire Germany-based renewable energy project developer VSB Group from global private markets investor Partners Group for total consideration of €1.57 billion (USD$1.7 billion).
Founded in 1996, Dresden-headquartered VSB develops wind and solar energy projects across Europe. The company has grown to over 500 employees, with more than 475 MW of renewable capacity in operation or under construction, primarily in Germany and France, and a pipeline of 18 GW of wind, solar and battery storage technologies.
TotalEnergies has set targets to expand its renewable energy generation business to reach 35 GW in 2025, and to more than 100 TWh of net electricity production by 2030. The company’s gross renewable electricity generation installed capacity has reached more than 24 GW as of the end of 2024. In its announcement of the new transaction, TotalEnergies highlighted the deal’s contribution to strengthening its Integrated Power value chain in Germany, following its recent acquisitions of German battery storage developer Kyon Energy, and energy manager Quadra Energy.
Stéphane Michel, President of Gas, Renewables and Power at TotalEnergies., said:
“We welcome the 500 employees of VSB Group and their leading onshore wind expertise in European markets. Their competences and assets will contribute to the development of our Integrated Power strategy in Europe, and notably in Germany.”
Felix Grolman, CEO of VSB Group, said:
“TotalEnergies´ global impact, with the ambitious goal of 100 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030, combined with VSB´s capability to deliver over 5 gigawatts production and storage assets in the next few years in Europe alone, is a giant step towards making those ambitions a reality. Our common mission is to build and operate as many gigawatts of wind-, solar, and storage assets, as efficiently as possible as fast as possible!”
Partners Group acquired VSB in 2020, and the firm said that VSB’s project pipeline has more than doubled, and EBIDTA has grown by five times, as the company has benefited from ongoing tailwinds including corporate decarbonization goals, regulatory support for clean energy, and an increased focus on energy independence.
David Daum, Partner, Head Infrastructure Europe, Partners Group, said:
“VSB is a highly thematic investment. Through our deep research capabilities, we identified VSB as uniquely positioned to benefit from decarbonization tailwinds in Europe, tracking the Company long before investing. We then transformed VSB from a developer into a full-service renewable energy platform and independent power producer. Having completed our value creation plan, we believe now is the right time to exit.”