Equinor buys 9.8% stake in offshore wind developer Orsted
Equinor acquires 9.8% stake in Orsted for $2.5 billion
Equinor says making long-term bet on the offshore wind sector
Orsted shares rise, Equinor's drop
Adds Equinor CEO comments in paragraphs 4-6
By Nora Buli and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
OSLO/COPENHAGEN, Oct 7 (Reuters) -Norway's Equinor EQNR.OL has bought a 9.8% stake valued at around $2.5 billion in Danish offshore wind farm developer Orsted ORSTED.CO, it said on Monday, as it seeks to build up its renewables portfolio.
Orsted shares have dropped 69% from their 2021 all-time high as the offshore wind sector has faced surging costs and technical problems with turbines.
But Equinor said its share acquisition was a long-term bet on the sector, after the Norwegian company made slow progress on reaching its ambitious renewable energy targets.
The transaction would count towards Equinor's renewable energy portfolio target, adding 1.7 gigawatt (GW) of net generation capacity out of the company's goal of installing 12-16 GW by 2030, CEO Anders Opedal told Reuters.
At the end of 2023, the company had less than 1 GW of installed renewable capacity.
"We see this as a good counter cyclical move at this point in time to get into a very attractive portfolio," Opedal said.
Orsted's share price rose more than 8% on the news before paring gains to stand 5.8% higher at 1300 GMT. Equinor's shares fell by 3.9%.
An Orsted spokesperson declined to comment.
Equinor said it did not plan to raise its stake beyond 10% and would not seek board representation.
The world's biggest offshore wind developer was last year hit by costs and project delays as inflation raised the price of turbines and other equipment and services.
"The offshore wind industry is currently facing a set of challenges, but we remain confident in the long-term outlook for the sector, and the crucial role offshore wind will play in the energy transition," he said.
Equinor's ownership position was built over time, through a combination of market purchases and a block trade, the company said.
The investment makes Equinor the second largest shareholder in Orsted after the Danish government.
Battling to restore investor confidence, Orsted in February trimmed its investment and capacity targets and paused dividend payouts as part of a major review.
"Structurally, this doesn't change anything for the direction Orsted is heading," Sydbank analyst Jacob Pedersen said.
The company has broad political backing in Denmark with no signs that the state will relinquish its 51% stake, he said.
Denmark brought in Goldman Sachs as a strategic shareholder 10 years ago, when the company - formerly DONG Energy - was focused on oil and gas. The Wall Street bank doubled its 8 billion-crown investment just two years later, when Orsted listed in Copenhagen in 2016.
Reporting by Nora Buli and Terje Solsvik in Oslo and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen in Copenhagen, editing by Essi Lehto, Louise Rasmussen, Barbara Lewis and Christina Fincher
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
