Dive Brief:
-
French oil and gas company Total has proposed a friendly acquisition of battery company Saft, Energy Storage News reports.
-
Total is offering $41.58 a share, a 38.3% premium to the May 6 closing price and 41.9% above the weighted average share value over the past six months.
-
The offer values Saft at $1.082 billion, or nine times the battery maker’s 2015 reported EBITDA.
Dive Insight:
In an effort to boost its clean energy portfolio, a French oil and gas company has made an offer to acquire battery company Saft. In 2011, Total took a 60% stake in SunPower.
The Saft acquisition would give Total an entry point into the fast growing market for energy storage. Saft produces devices for the stationary storage industry, as well as for transport and other applications. The company’s products include the Intensium Max Lithium-Ion containerized storage solution, which it has deployed to numerous recent grid-connected and off-grid projects in regions including installations in Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
The company also makes residential systems and recently deployed a project to store energy from regenerative braking on trains serving metropolitan Philadelphia.
Saft’s board unanimously recommended shareholders tender their shares. The offer is subject to French regulatory approval.
“I am convinced that Total will provide Saft with the required expertise and resources needed for its future development, particularly in terms of technological and commercial capabilities,” Saft CEO Ghislain Lescuyer said in a statement.
