Iberdrola puts $1 billion solar stake sale on hold, sources say

Iberdrola Pauses $1 Billion Sale of Minority Stake in Spanish Solar Portfolio

Overview of Iberdrola's Solar Portfolio Sale

By Pietro Lombardi

Background of the Sale

MADRID, April 10 (Reuters) - Iberdrola has put on hold for now the attempted sale of a minority stake in a roughly 1-gigawatt Spanish solar energy portfolio, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The Spanish company decided to explore the sale last year, seeking a valuation of around $1 billion for the whole portfolio known as Project Julieta, one of the sources said. 

Challenges in the Sale Process

Yet the size of the valuation complicated talks, one of the people said, while the other pointed to waning interest from one unnamed bidder seen until recently as the frontrunner. 

Iberdrola said it doesn't comment on what it called market speculation.

Context: Spain's Solar Market

Spain's solar power capacity has increased rapidly in recent years, while electricity demand hasn't kept pace, hitting the prices that producers get for their output and the value of their generating assets.

Iberdrola's Strategy and Partnerships

Asset Rotation and Funding

For Iberdrola, asset rotation and partnerships - which include the disposal of non-core or mature assets and the sale of minority stakes - have been key elements of its strategy over recent years.

The company uses proceeds from such deals to help fund new investments in core businesses, increasingly power grids. It set a target to raise 13.2 billion euros through 2028, 58% of which would come from partnerships and the rest from asset rotation. Three quarters of this has already been achieved. 

Key Partnerships

It has partnered with the likes of Japan's Kansai Electric Power, Norway's sovereign wealth fund and Abu Dhabi's state-owned renewable energy company Masdar.

(Reporting by Pietro Lombardi; Editing by Andrei Khalip and David Holmes)