Masdar agrees to buy Saeta from Brookfield: State-owned renewables giant Masdar is set to acquire Spanish renewable energy firm Saeta Yield from Canada-based investment firm Brookfield for USD 1.4 bn, according to a press release (pdf). The agreement is expected to close by the end of the year, pending approvals.

What does Masdar get? The transaction includes 745 MW of predominantly wind assets — including 538 MW in Spain and 144 MW in Portugal — as well as 63 MW of solar assets in Spain. Masdar will also receive a 1.6 GW development pipeline, while Brookfield retains 350 MW of concentrated solar power assets.

The acquisition has been in the works for a while: Masdar was set to submit a final bid to acquire Brookfield’s Saeta Yield earlier in July.

Who’s Saeta Yield? The renewables firm, which Brookfield acquired from ACS for EUR 1 bn in 2018, owns a portfolio of 28 wind farms, 10 photovoltaic parks, and seven solar thermal plants across Spain and Portugal with a total capacity of 1.2 GW.

Not Masdar’s first major acquisition in Spain: The company agreed to acquire a c.50% stake in Spanish power firm Endesa’s solar power installations subsidiary EPGE Solar for AED 3.3 bn (c. EUR 818 mn) back in July. The acquisition will make Masdar a partner in 2.5 GW of renewable energy assets in Spain with the transaction set to close in 4Q 2024. Masdar also operates a 1.2 GW solar plant in the Castilla La Mancha region of Spain.

ADVISORS- Brookfield, which started the sale process last December, had tapped Société Générale Group and Santander Bank to advise on the transaction.

OTHER M&A NEWS-

Asset managers BlackStone and Vista, as part of a consortium including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, are acquiring software provider Smartsheet for USD 8.4 bn in one of the year’s biggest take-private transactions, Bloomberg reports, citing a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing. It’s not clear how much Adia invested as part of the consortium, but the transaction is set to wrap by end of January.

The details: Smartsheet will still have a 45-day go-shop period to solicit and negotiate alternative bids. The acquisition price represents a premium of approximately 41% to Smartsheet’s volume-weighted average closing price for the 90 days before 17 July, its last trading day before reports of a sale.

ADVISORS- Qatalyst Partners is acting as exclusive financial adviser to Smartsheet, while Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are advisors to Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners.