The acquisition of Groupe Carré, a company with a long track-record of project development, construction and O&M in France, strengthens Amarenco’s position in the country as a leading independent renewable energy producer.
Gaillac, France, 02 October 2017. Amarenco, an independent power producer based in Ireland, has announced its acquisition of Groupe Carré, one of the leading renewable energy project developers active in France. This acquisition supports Amarenco’s strategic objectives and strengthens its position in France’s promising wind and solar energy markets. Operating under the brand name Amarenco France, the new entity has the depth of skills, experience and financial girth to quickly become one of the main vertically integrated IPPs active in the country.
Over the last few years, Amarenco has been developing its activities in France where it invested over 300 million euros to build its renewable energy asset portfolio in the country. In 2016, Amarenco entered a strategic collaboration agreement with Groupe Carré, whereby Amarenco gained access to the French company’s extensive Asset Management and O&M expertise. Groupe Carré, founded in 2008 by Olivier Carré, has installed and operated several hundreds of commercial and utility scale photovoltaics projects in France over the last decade.
“After such a successful initial collaboration, this acquisition was our next logical step. Over the months, we have developed a deep understanding of our respective strengths and we now have a clear idea of how to leverage our synergies to launch a path of fast growth,” said Alain Desvigne, Amarenco’s chairman. “Together, we can become involved in an increasingly large number of projects, at any stage of their development, everywhere in France.”
The respective services and capabilities of Amarenco and Groupe Carré are an excellent match. Amarenco has extensive experience in acquiring, owning and operating renewable energy assets, whereas Groupe Carré has all the required expertise to develop, build and maintain projects.
“For the last 10 years, we have collaborated with farmers, local authorities and businesses to deliver a vast array of high quality PV installations. From our clients’ perspective, this acquisition will offer the increased safety of having a partner with extremely firm foundations, as well as give them access to a turnkey PV and wind energy project installation offering,” concluded Olivier Carré, former President of Groupe Carré and Amarenco France’s new CEO.