Shipping magnate Marinakis acquires 6% of Terna Energy

Greece’s increasingly diversified energy sector, especially the cutting-edge ‘clean’ energy segment, got another vote of confidence this week, after an announcement that Piraeus-based shipping magnate Vangelis Marinakis has acquired a stake of aproximately 6% in Terna Energy .

Terna Energy’s filing with the Athens Stock Exchange (ATHEX) dated April 21, 2021, reported that Marinakis has acquired 6,923,053 shares in the company together with the equivalent voting rights – i.e. 6% of a total of 115,855,090.

Terna Energy is a leader in clean energy with a portfolio of almost 2.000 MW of RES projects (installed or under construction) in Greece and abroad. Terna Energy is the largest investor in the RES sector in Greece and the biggest Greek company in the sector worldwide. The company has invested approximately € 2 billion in the sector with new investments of an additional 2 billion euros in clean energy electricity production and storage projects as well as environmental and waste management projects. According to market sources, Terna Energy’s international portfolio, footprint and pipeline make the company an ideal candidate for an international listing in Europe or the US, as the popularity and valuations of the ‘clean’ energy sector is on the increase.

On his part, Marinakis, who is also owner of the popular Olympiacos FC and Nottingham Forest FC teams and media group Alter Ego Media S.A. is signaling a “green” turn towards substantially reducing the environmental “footprint” of his global business activities. Recently the shipping industry has been under increasing pressure to reduce its environmental footprint, as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is targeting a 50% reduction in emissions by 2050. The Biden’s administration support of this target together with its overall extensive ‘green’ agenda, which is matched by the European Union and other signatories of the Paris Agreement is expected to benefit companies such as Terna Energy, who have a long track record and an extensive project pipeline in ‘clean’ energy. Sources close to the Capital group of companies, the shipping arm of Marinakis, see the placement in Terna Energy as a strategic investment, which partly heges the group’s wider exposure and is part of a wider strategy to reduce the group’s environmental footprint and investment in ‘green’ assets