Solar panels and wind turbines. Photo by Tanya Ivanova.

Spanish renewables investor and fund manager Qualitas Energy is in advanced talks to buy around 50% of London-based renewables platform Cubico Sustainable Investments, sources close to the negotiations told Cinco Dias.

The potential agreement would see Qualitas acquire a significant stake in Cubico, though it “would not necessarily be a majority shareholding”, the Spanish newspaper quoted the sources as saying. They added that the transaction is being structured to preserve Cubico’s integrity as a company, rather than splitting the business by geography or assets.

Cubico, owned by Canadian pension funds Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and PSP Investments, operates a global portfolio of wind, solar, battery energy storage and transmission assets across Europe, the Americas and Australia. Its enterprise value has been widely reported at around EUR 7 billion (USD 8.20bn).

Qualitas has been seen as the front-runner in the sale process, which had drawn interest from other bidders including KKR’s ContourGlobal, according to an earlier report by Bloomberg.

According to a report by Expansion, Qualitas could use proceeds from its ongoing fundraising of a sixth fund targeting around EUR 3.25 billion to help bankroll the investment in Cubico.