Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers dedicated to sustainable investing, and BNP Paribas Asset Management, announced they each acquired an equal, large equity stake with equal governance rights in the French renewables’ developer Arkolia from the historical co-founders heirs and a group of minority shareholders, through the Mirova Energy Transition Fund 6 (MET6)1 and BNPP AM’s Low Carbon Transition Infra Equity Fund I, and invested primary money to fund the growth of the company. Arkolia’s co-founder and current President, Jean-Sébastien Bessière, will retain and strengthen its participation to remain the reference shareholder alongside its employees.
Arkolia is a fast-growing French fully integrated developer, #2 IPP for rooftop photovoltaic in the French market and active on the ground-mounted photovoltaic and wind segments. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Mauguio near Montpellier, the company has a total installed capacity of 562MW in operation as of 2023.
This transaction is a key milestone to accelerate Arkolia’s development. In addition to acquiring the existing shares It will enable the company to finance its projects pipeline, reinforce its national coverage and continue to invest in its talents Mirova and BNPP AM will fund the entire consideration for the transaction from its respective funds and will not raise third party financing for this acquisition.
Arkolia will remain a multi-energy player, with the ambition of reaching nearly 1.5 GW, doubling its revenue to target and surpass €500 million, and integrating over 350 employees in the coming years.
The transaction is pending regulatory approvals expected to close in H1 2025.
Our goal was to identify allies capable of providing the necessary resources to accelerate our growth while preserving the unique DNA of our group, characterized by our strong capacity for innovation and our commitment to value sharing. My intention, as co-founder and president, was to retain most of my stake in the ownership alongside the employees through our corporate mutual fund. This strategic alliance represents much more than just a new chapter in our story; it is the beginning of a whole new book filled with challenges and opportunities. This has now been achieved with a consortium comprising two leading French institutional partners. This alliance strengthens our ability to fulfill our founding promise: achieving energy independence by democratizing and decentralizing renewable energy.
Jean-Sébastien BESSIÈRE
Co-founder and President of Arkolia
We are delighted to partner with Mirova, as well as Arkolia management team to support the company’s ongoing journey as a leader in the distributed energy generation space. This is the Low Carbon Transition Infrastructure Equity Fund’s second investment and part of BNPP AM’s overall strategy of investing in equity in leading companies contributing to a low carbon economy in Europe.
Rodolphe BRUMM
Head of Infrastructure Private Equity at BNP Paribas Asset Management
After several years of partnership, we are proud and enthusiastic to become a shareholder of Arkolia alongside BNPP AM. With this investment, we will provide the company with the financial means to achieve its ambition and, after 15 years of activity, offer a clear growth path to the teams under the leadership of Jean Sebastien Bessière and Katia Sigaud. We strongly believe that Arkolia can consolidate its leadership position in the French rooftop solar which is a fast-growing sector to decarbonise the decentralised energy production and requires proven scaling capabilities that the company has built over the years.
Raphaël LANCE
Head of Energy Transition Funds at Mirova
BNP Paribas Low Carbon Transition Infra Equity Fund I S.L.P. (“BNPP Low Carbon Transition Infra Equity Fund”) is a fund managed by BNP Paribas Asset Management’ Private Assets division, which invests in low-carbon infrastructure projects through minority equity stakes in Europe. These projects span various sectors, particularly those linked to the energy transition, such as renewable energy development, transport decarbonization, circular economy, and carbon capture.
Mirova Energy Transition 6 (MET6) has been designed to meet the financing needs for resilient infrastructure that is essential to the decarbonization of energy production and consumption, drawing on the solid technical expertise of its teams and their strong relationships with established players in the industry. The fund aims to finance proven technologies in the renewable energies, storage and energy efficiency markets while continuing to support the development of low-carbon electric mobility and hydrogen.
1 MIROVA ENERGY TRANSITION 6 (MET6) is a French limited partnership (Société de Libre Partenariat), open to new subscription. Mirova is the management company. The supervisory authority approval is not required for this fund. The fund is exposed to: capital loss risk, market risks, industrial and public counterparty risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, project risk, operational risk, compliance risk, legal and regulatory risk, financial risk, electricity transmission and distribution network risk, valuation risk, deal flow risk, sustainability risk. The fund regulation is the source of information on this fund. It contains important information about its investment objectives, its strategies to achieve those objectives, and the main risks associated with any investment in that fund. It also contains information on commissions, fees and historical performance of the fund. The information presented above is neither a contractual document nor intended to be an investment advice. Access to the products presented here may be restricted to some persons or in some countries. This fund benefits from support from the European Union under the InvestEU Fund.
The figures mentioned in this communication are provided by Arkolia and may be subject to change without notice. The information provided reflects the opinions of Arkolia, BNP Paribas Asset Management and Mirova regarding the situation as of the date of this document and may be modified without notice.