Indian independent power producer (IPP) ReNew Power has completed its planned business combination with RMG Acquisition Corporation (RMG II) and has today began trading on the NASDAQ.
As a result, RMG II has become a wholly owned subsidiary of ReNew Energy Global plc, with the latter receiving US$610 million in net proceeds from the arrangement. The deal has created India’s largest publicly traded renewable energy company by total electricity generation, ReNew said in a media release.
Its board of directors will be comprised of ten members. Six will be independent directors as per the NASDAQ listing standards and US Securities and Exchange Commission rules. The board of directors will be led by ReNew chairman and CEO Sumant Sinha and will also include Robert Mancini, CEO of RMG II.
“With a strong balance sheet, bolstered by over US$870 million of cash from the transaction, ReNew offers investors a unique way to play the continued and accelerating clean electrification trend seen across the global economy,” said Mancini.
“We have the ability to do even more in bringing affordable, reliable, green, utility-scale power supply to more people and businesses in India through implementation of our proprietary software and AI-enabled monitoring capabilities,” said Sinha.
Earlier this month (17 August), PV Tech reported that 88% of RMG II’s shareholders had voted to approve the combination with ReNew, completing the SPAC’s merger. Prior to this, an agreement to go public had been made between the two in a deal that valued the combined entity at US$8 billion. It was expected to close in Q2 2021.
ReNew has substantially bolstered its portfolio this month with the acquisition of two operating renewable energy portfolios in India – 260MW/330MWp solar projects in the state of Telangana and a 99MW hydropower facility in Uttarakhand, the company’s first hydro asset. In addition, it has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for a 400MW renewables project that will supply Round-The-Clock (RTC) electricity supply, which the company claims is the first of its kind in India.
RMG II is a blank check company sponsored by Jim Carpenter, Bob Mancini and Phil Kassin that raised US$345 million in its 14 December 2020 IPO, allowing it to pursue a merger. SPACs are becoming increasingly common in the energy space, as Jack Mason-Jebb and Brad Isaac of law firm Fieldfisher, explained in a recent article for PV Tech Power.