Asset manager DWS has joined with Munich Re’s and ERGO’s asset manager firm MEAG to buy the biogas and biomethane firm Weltec.
DWS confirmed it had entered into the joint acquisition as part of its third institutional Pan-European Infrastructure Fund (PEIF III). Financial details, said the group, were confidential.
“We are pleased to be working with MEAG to further invest in Weltec’s existing portfolio of high-quality assets, against the backdrop of the critical European energy transition to more renewable sources,” added Thomas Kalthoefer, senior principal for infrastructure investments at DWS.
“With this acquisition, we see attractive growth potential via both greenfield and brownfield opportunities, supported by the company’s integrated feedstock procurement and logistics business, which provides Weltec with secure and direct access to farmers and raw materials.”
Some three weeks ago, the European Commission gave its permission for the acquisition to take place, the approval taking place under the EU Merger Regulation.
Biogas plants
Vechta-based Weltec owns and operates five biomethane and four biogas plants across Germany and, under DWS and MEAG’s ownership, is set to invest in significantly increasing biomethane production volumes across its portfolio. It has recently added three new biogas plants in Greece to its portfolio.
The proposed investments include upgrading the four biogas plants to produce biomethane, transitioning the plants’ feedstock mix to sustainable, waste-based sources, in line with circular economy best practices, and installing onsite CO2 liquefaction technology to further reduce Weltec’s carbon footprint.
For its part, MEAG manages the assets of Munich Re and ERGO – and this is not the only deal it has been involved in this week. It has also been announced it has led a consortium of investors alongside Vantage Data Centers to complete a partnership in a number of data centre assets around the continent. That deal is reported to be worth €2.5bn.
Dominik Damaschke, head of infrastructure equity of MEAG, said: “Data centers are the backbone of the increasing digitisation of the economy, and we are proud to invest in a portfolio of top-tier hyperscale data centres in Europe. The investment is another milestone in MEAG’s strategic expansion into digital infrastructure.”
