Total inks US$2.5b deal to add 20% stake in Adani Green

[HONG KONG] Total has agreed to a US$2.5 billion deal that includes a minority stake in India's renewables giant Adani Green Energy as it expands its efforts to diversify beyond oil.

Paris-based Total will acquire 20 per cent of Adani Green, take a board seat and add a 50 per cent stake in a portfolio of operating solar assets with capacity to transmit 2.35 gigawatts of power to consumers, the company said on Monday in a statement. That confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report that Total and Adani Green were in advanced talks on a deal.

"India is the right place to put into action our energy transition strategy based on two pillars: renewables and natural gas," Total chief executive officer Patrick Pouyanne said in the statement.

The deal is the third in a week for Total in the renewable area, following the acquisition of a French biogas producer and of a stake in a large US solar portfolio. The French oil and gas giant and its European peers are increasingly investing in clean power and renewable fuels amid mounting pressure from investors, governments and consumers to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Shares in Adani Green fell about 1.9 per cent as at 11.09am in Mumbai, giving the company a market value of about US$20 billion.

BLOOMBERG

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