The French energy major, TotalEnergies, on Wednesday, announced it has signed a deal to acquire Germany-based developer of renewable energy projects, VSB Group, from the global private markets investor, Partners Group, for an amount of €1.57 billion, which translates to about USD 1.7 billion. This is a key milestone in TotalEnergies’ journey to strengthen its presence in renewable energy, thus upholding its pledge to aggressively pursue its aggressive clean energy goals.
Founded in 1996 in Dresden, VSB Group has become a leading developer in wind and solar energy projects around Europe. The company boasts over 500 employees. Its renewable energy capacity stretches to over 475 MW either in operation or currently under construction. It offers an extensive project pipeline featuring 18 GW in its wind, solar, as well as battery storage technology, mainly located in Germany and France.
The acquisition is in line with TotalEnergies’ Integrated Power strategy and supports the company’s broader goals in renewable energy generation. By 2025, TotalEnergies will achieve 35 GW of installed renewable energy capacity and more than 100 TWh of net electricity production by 2030. The company has already attained over 24 GW of renewable electricity generation capacity at the end of 2024. According to Stéphane Michel, President of Gas, Renewables, and Power at TotalEnergies, “We welcome the 500 employees of VSB Group and their leading onshore wind expertise in European markets.”. Their competences and assets will also enrich our Integrated Power strategy in Europe, and specifically in Germany.”
The acquisition of VSB Group adds to TotalEnergies’ recent investments in Germany’s energy sector, including purchasing battery storage developer Kyon Energy and energy manager Quadra Energy. These deals demonstrate TotalEnergies’ intent to further grow its renewable energy footprint across Europe, particularly in Germany, a core market for the company’s growth in clean energy.
Felix Grolman, the CEO of VSB Group was upbeat and praised the potential deal while speaking about alignment in aspirations of the two companies, as he continued: “TotalEnergies’ global reach and ambition, which includes aiming for 100 gigawatts in renewable energy capacity by 2030 combined with VSB capability of producing more than 5 gigawatts worth of production and storage assets in a matter of the next years across Europe will be huge leap toward realising ambitions.”. Our common mission is building and operating as many gigawatts of wind, solar, and storage assets, as efficiently as possible and as fast as possible,” he said.
The transaction also caps off a successful investment for Partners Group, which bought VSB Group in 2020. During its holding period, Partners Group grew VSB’s project pipeline by over two times while growing EBITDA fivefold. The above progress was achieved by the fast-growing corporate decarbonization goals, positive regulatory environment, and the rising emphasis on Europe-wide energy independence.
David Daum, Partner and Head of Infrastructure Europe at Partners Group, commented on VSB’s growth under their watch. “VSB is a very thematic investment. We found VSB, leveraging our deep research capabilities, as uniquely positioned to benefit from decarbonization tailwinds in Europe, tracking the company long before investing. We then transformed VSB from a developer into a full-service renewable energy platform and independent power producer.”. Having finalized our value creation plan, now we feel is the correct time to exit,” Daum added.
Acquiring VSB Group will mark an important step for both TotalEnergies and VSB Group, as this move accelerates the achievement of TotalEnergies’ renewable energy goals while providing it with a better position in European competition. It also affords VSB Group access to the world through the resources and scale of the global business.