Enel Green Power sells Portugal assets

Enel Green Power has agreed to sell all its Portuguese assets to First State Wind Energy Investments for 900 million euros ($1 billion), as the renewable energy group shifts investments to faster-growing markets.

Enel Green Power, controlled by Italy’s biggest utility Enel , said in a statement the deal will generate a capital gain of around 30 million euros and would help its net debt position to the tune of about 550 million euros.

First State Wind Energy Investments, a Portuguese company owned by global asset manager First State Investments, is expected to close the deal, involving a number of wind farms, in the final quarter of this year.

Italy’s biggest green energy company is spending 8.8 billion euros through 2019 to fund growth through a range of green technologies, across fast-growing emerging markets including Latin America and Africa.

The deal is the first in a number of planned disposals as the company re-invests in more attractive locations at higher returns.

“This disposal of our Portuguese assets is part of our active portfolio management strategy, a key pillar of the group’s five-year strategic plan” Enel Green Power CEO Francesco Venturini said.

Enel, Italy’s biggest utility, had included the prospective sale of the Portuguese assets in its own 5 billion euro disposal plan announced earlier this year.