Aker Horizons a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aker ASA, has entered into an agreement to acquire Rainpower Holding AS. Aker Horizons will use Rainpower as a platform to build a next generation technology company to optimize hydropower developments and operations. 

“Aker Horizons is continuing its planet-positive investing, making strides towards developing a growth platform of integrated renewable technologies with positions in onshore and offshore wind and solar. With increasing demand for power market flexibility and storage solutions, we are pleased to also be adding hydropower capabilities to our portfolio through the acquisition of Rainpower as a platform for building a next generation hydropower technology company,” says Kristian Røkke, Chief Executive Officer at Aker Horizons.

Aker Horizons will acquire 100 percent of the shares in Rainpower and will contribute approximately NOK 100 million in capital to transition and develop the company into a next generation hydropower technology and solutions provider. Aker Horizons will combine the engineering and industrial software capabilities of the Aker group with Rainpower’s hydropower portfolio and experienced project organization to reposition the company for growth. The new company will be included in Aker Horizons’ sunrise portfolio of companies that are in an early phase or require further development to realize their full potential. It will seek to identify and develop concepts for upgrading the hydropower installed base to reflect the needs of future power markets, including an increasing need for flexibility to rapidly respond to swings in intermittent renewable power generation and for cost-effective and sustainable power storage solutions.

Rainpower is an experienced project organization based on Norwegian hydropower technology founded by Kvaerner in 1853. Today, Rainpower offers proprietary technologies for integrated products and services to the hydropower industry worldwide. Its product and service portfolio ranges from turbines, governor systems, control systems and other equipment, maintenance services and rehabilitation, as well as technology for hydropower system design and upgrades. Rainpower is headquartered at Lillestrøm, Norway, and has offices across Norway, as well as in Sweden and China.

The transaction is conditional on recapitalization of the company with its current lenders, in addition to customary closing conditions including required anti-trust filings.

“Hydropower is part of Aker’s DNA, tracing back to the very start of the industry when Kvaerner developed the first ever Norwegian turbine and formed the basis for an entire Norwegian supplier industry. Fast forward to 2021, and the story is coming full circle. In true Aker spirit, we are identifying opportunities to build on our track record and capabilities to drive value creation. Hydropower is an industry we already know well, but today we also stand ready to leverage on decades of engineering insight and a strong software expertise to develop world class technologies and solutions for the hydropower industry” says Øyvind Eriksen, President and Chief Executive Officer at Aker ASA and Chairman of Aker Horizons.

Rainpower will collaborate with leading industrial software company, Cognite, to develop a portfolio of applications for optimization of operations, response time, distribution, and trading. The company will also establish a concept development and engineering insight team to become a key partner for the hydropower industry, in addition to building an integrated portfolio of operations technologies for next generation dynamic power plants.

KeyFacts Energy: Acquisitions & Mergers news