Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises Actis and Mainstream on the sale of Chile’s largest independent renewable energy producer Aela Energía

International law firm Clifford Chance has advised Actis, a leading global investor in sustainable infrastructure, and Mainstream Renewable Power (“Mainstream”), the global wind and solar company, on the sale of Aela Energía (“Aela”) to the Canadian-listed developer Innergex Renewable Energy.

Since Aela's establishment in 2013, the company has grown to become Chile’s largest independent power producer (“IPP”) of renewable energy. Aela's business includes a 332MW portfolio of three newly-constructed wind farms, powering more than 500,000 homes with clean energy, while displacing 354 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

The Actis and Mainstream partnership has helped build Aela into a sustainability leader within the Chilean energy sector. Clifford Chance has been involved with Aela since the outset, advising on the original partnership arrangements, the acquisition of further projects and a portfolio financing for the development and construction of two of the group's wind farms.

Actis is a longstanding Clifford Chance client and this deal follows a track record of significant transactions involving renewable energy projects. The sector continues to see high-levels of M&A activity as an increasingly broad range of investors look to deploy capital and develop assets in new markets.

The M&A team advising on this transaction was led by Partner Nicholas Hughes, with support from senior associates Jonathan Dillon and Mayowa Kalesanwo, and associates Sam Monk and Miguel de Seixas Baptista.