Axpo Acquires Urbasolar With Plans to Become European Leader in PV Segment

Swiss energy utility Axpo and independent French solar PV specialist Urbasolar have announced the signing of an acquisition contract of 100% of the latter’s securities by Axpo.

Stefan Gradwohl, Project Development Manager Axpo; Alexander Gifon, Senior Manager-Mergers & Acquisitions Neue Energien Axpo; Stéphanie Andrieu, CEO Urbasolar; Arnaud Mine, Président Urbasolar [L-R]

This agreement aims to consolidate and stimulate the growth of the French PV specialist, which now becomes the photovoltaic operator within the group with the ambition to become a leader in the segment in Europe, and secondly, for the Swiss company to acquire a new competence in its strategy for the development of renewable energies.

Urbasolar group, based in Montpellier, is one of the first winners of the tenders launched by the French Government and is accustomed to the innovations technologies in particular original solutions for optimising the performance of photovoltaic power plants. The company has since its inception in 2006 developed and built more than 457 large-sized power plants, in the form of rooftop power plants, parking canopies or ground power plants, representing more than 350 MW built and under construction and about 1 GW under advanced development. The Group has more than 160 collaborators for a turnover of 2018/2019 expected to be Euro 120 million.

Stéphanie Andrieu and Arnaud Mine founders of Urbasolar said, “The strategy of development and the values of the Axpo Group make it an ideal partner for this new stage of development of Urbasolar. Our ambition is clearly to build a European reference actor serving our clients, partners and local authorities, and we know that the enthusiasm and professionalism of the teams, combined with the support of Axpo, will meet the challenge of a large-scale energy transition that contributes to the fight against climate change.”

Axpo, the leading Swiss producer of renewable energy with numerous hydroelectric works, has established a leading European position in this field with a strong activity in the development of wind farms through its subsidiary German Volkswind.

Andrew Walo, CEO of Axpo Group, said, “With Urbasolar, we want to diversify and complement our range of renewable energy skills. PV is a fast-growing sector. The rapid decline in the costs of this technology in recent years has generated a very important development at the global level. Together we want to expand our photovoltaic business and benefit from the many business opportunities in our markets and with our customers.”

Urbasolar will pursue its R&D and innovation policy and will cultivate all possible synergies with Axpo group, particularly in the field of energy storage and electrical services. It will also benefit from the presence of Axpo group and its references in renewable energy segments across 28 European countries, to develop and expand its international business.