EQT acquires German battery developer ju:niz Energy

Swedish investor EQT has acquired German utility-scale BESS developer and operator ju:niz Energy for an undisclosed amount.

The Swedish entity, owned by the Wallenberg family and their Investor AB holding company, described the transaction as the first of its new Transition Infrastructure strategy. The initiative will led by EQT Transition Infrastructure Chair and Partner Francesco Starace, a former CEO of part state-owned Italian energy company Enel.

Announcing the acquisition on Dec. 5, 2024, “subject to customary conditions and approvals” and without specifying the value of ju:niz or method of acquisition, EQT said the deal will expand the German battery developer and enable it to “become an independent flexibility provider with increased asset ownership. It will support the business to build on its experience across the entire value chain to scale its development of battery energy storage projects and successfully execute on its sizable pipeline at various levels of maturity.”

Ju:niz, based in Aschheim, will be joining an investment house that has €246 billion ($259 billion) in assets under management, according to the EQT website, and whose EQT Infrastructure business has invested more than €17 billion in “energy transition-related opportunities” in 25 “platform deals.”

EQT said its Transition Infrastructure strategy would focus on investment in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.

The investment house said it was advised by UBS (financial), Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Norton Rose Fulbright (legal) and McKinsey (commercial) for the ju:niz acquisition.