PPL Corporation announced yesterday that it has acquired Safari Energy LLC, a leading provider of solar energy solutions for commercial customers in the U.S.
“The Safari Energy acquisition offers PPL an attractive, low-risk opportunity to help advance a cleaner energy future; to support the growth of distributed energy resources, including energy storage; and to gain additional experience with technologies that will play a bigger role in shaping the future energy grid,” said William H. Spence, Chairman, President and CEO of PPL Corporation.
“However, even as it provides these benefits, the acquisition will not alter PPL's core business strategy,” Spence said. “PPL's primary investment focus and engine for growth remains our high-performing, award-winning regulated utilities.”
Safari Energy develops highly structured turnkey solutions for its clients, managing projects through all phases of development, from inception to financing, design, engineering, permitting, construction, interconnection and asset management. Headquartered in New York City, Safari Energy has completed more than 200 solar projects in 19 states, with more than 80 projects under way.
“I'm very proud of Safari Energy's track record of using solar power to unlock incremental revenue for our customers,” said Matt Rudey, CEO of Safari Energy. “PPL's acquisition of Safari will support our continued growth and allow us to expand our offerings to better serve our customers.”
PPL also announced it has hired industry veteran Vijay P. Singh to lead its involvement in the evolving distributed energy resource space and to complement the Safari Energy team. Singh previously served as executive director of renewable energy development and energy storage for NextEra Energy Resources.
The terms of the Safari Energy transaction were not disclosed. The company said the purchase price is not material to PPL. While PPL expects the transaction to boost earnings and credit immediately, the company does not expect Safari Energy to contribute meaningfully to PPL's earnings per share through its current forecast period, which extends through 2020.
