Schroders PLC (LSE:SDR) is to take a majority 75% stake in Greencoat Capital, the renewable infrastructure manager, for an initial consideration of £358mln.
Greencoat is one of Europe's largest renewable infrastructure managers, with £6.7bn of assets under management, including UK Wind, Europe’s largest onshore windfarm operator.
Funds under management have grown by 48% per annum over the last four years with £1.6bn of new money flooding into the group over the past 12 months.
Schroders and Greencoat said they want to work together to capture the growing opportunity in net-zero transition policies, with US and European markets forecast to grow by more than US$1trn to 2030
Greencoat will become part of Schroders Capital, though its founders and management team Laurence Fumagalli, Bertrand Gautier, Stephen Lilley and Richard Nourse will stay on and continue to run the business on a day-to-day basis.
Peter Harrison, Schroders chief executive, said: “ Its [Greencoat] culture is an excellent fit with ours and Greencoat's focus aligns very closely to our strategy, continuing our approach of adding capabilities in the most attractive growth segments we can provide to our clients.”
In a separate statement, Greencoat UK Wind added: “There is no change expected to the relationship with the investment manager, and the Greencoat Capital team that has led Greencoat UK Wind for the past nine years will remain in place.
“There is also no change to the investment strategy, which continues to be overseen by the Board and approved by the shareholders. The board welcomes the transaction, and the additional capabilities which Schroders will bring to Greencoat Capital.”