Israel Infrastructure Fund, owned by Yaron Kestenbaum, Harel Insurance and Advocate Yehuda Raveh, recently invested an additional €25 million in a large wind turbine project in Poland, which is owned and managed by Mashav Energia, in which IIF has a controlling stake (80%). Eran Saar has been appointed CEO of Mashav Energia.
Prior to issuing a public offering on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, IIF increased its share in the large wind turbine project in Poland, and is preparing to float the company that owns it, Mashav Energia. The Fund plans to carry out the offering in approximately six months at a value of NIS 1.8 billion (€500 million).
The project in Poland – the largest of its kind in the country – is a wind farm of 81 turbines, producing 260 megawatts. The cost of setting up this wind farm, about €300 million, was financed by local and foreign banks, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD).
Calcalist has learned that IIF recently invested an additional €25 million in Mashav Energia, which in addition to owning the project also manages it. Other partners in Mashav include the Harel Insurance Group, which is also the largest partner in IIF and an anchor investor in the fund – as well as the Ashtrom Group and the Teachers & Kindergarten Teachers Pension Fund.
IIF’s current investment is, in fact, the acquisition of the share held by Mashav Renewable Energy Fund company – Helios (10%), thus bringing IIF, under the management of Yaron Kestenbaum, to a 80% holding in the project. This information was sourced from an update recently given by the Fund to its investors.
It was also learned that IIF appointed Eran Saar as CEO of Mashav Energia, with the aim of turning it into a holding company in the field of renewable energy. Saar previously managed the Equital Group, which is controlled by Haim Tzof and Kobi Maimon, as well as the group’s subsidiaries – Isramco Negev 2, which holds a stake in the Tamar reservoir. In September 2019, Saar was appointed CEO of Discount Investment and IDB, which were at the time under the control of Eduardo Elsztain, and actually took up these positions three months later. Saar did not cooperate with several moves that Elsztain sought to lead, which led to friction between the two and Saar’s resignation in April 2020.
Poland’s state-of-the-art electricity market is home to several major local electricity marketers, who own the distribution network in the Polish government’s electricity generation areas. In parallel, there is an electricity exchange, in which many other electricity marketers are active.
In Poland’s sophisticated electricity market, there are several major local electricity marketers, who own the distribution network in the areas of electricity production, which is controlled by the Polish government. Side by side is the Polish electricity exchange, in which many other electricity marketers are active.
The market for renewable energy in Poland is also growing, and it is possible to sell energy from renewable sources on the open market and in PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements), which are signed between the electricity producers and the purchasing body.
In 2020, this market showed rapid growth and reached a share of 15.5% of the total electricity production in the country. Accordingly, there are other Israeli companies active in the renewable energy market in Poland
IIF, owned by Yaron Kestenbaum, Advocate Yehuda Raveh and Harel, is a private equity fund that specializes in investing in companies in the fields of energy, transportation, infrastructure, water, the environment, logistics and digital infrastructure. The fund currently manages assets of about NIS 10 billion, and owns, among other things, 5% of Dalia Energy, which operates one of the largest private power plants in Israel. In addition, IIF is currently competing, together with Delek Car and its subsidiary Veridis, for the purchase of 50% of the shares of Egged Transportation.
https://www.calcalist.co.il/market/article/bkl00vrkht (Hebrew)