Canadian Brookfield to merge hydro and wind assets to take on Europeans to create global renewable energy powerhouse

Canadian asset manager Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is proposing to merge its hydroelectric and wind power assets presently held by Brookfield Renewable Power Inc. to create the world's second-largest public renewable energy company. The merged entity would have a market capitalization of $6 billion USD, ranking behind Italy's ENEL GP's $10 billion USD equity value but ahead of EDP of France and Portugal's EDF Group.

The new corporation, Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners LP (“BREP”) will be headquartered in Bermuda but will run its Canadian division from Gatineau, Quebec. Brookfield has 2,000 MW of projects under development, including a wind farm in south-western Ontario and other projects in Saskatchewan.

Mr. Richard Legault, CEO of Brookfield’s power operations noted that the deal would position BREP "as one of the largest publicly listed pure-play renewable power businesses, one that is roughly 1 1/2 times the size of the fund today with almost 4,800 megawatts of capacity at 179 facilities producing 18 million megawatt hours of power per year.” Legault said the new company would "rank among the very best renewable businesses globally in terms of its quality of assets, scale of operating platform, geographic diversification, access to capital, and global reach."

The focus in the medium term will be on its core markets in Canada, the United States and Brazil. But in the longer term, it could target opportunities in Europe and Australia where Brookfield's infrastructure and real estate operations have a strong presence.