Qualitas buys Macquarie's 5.8GW Cero platform
The QE VI acquisition adds more than 2GW of operating or ready-to-build solar and storage, a 3.8GW pipeline, and Cero's teams in London, Milan and Madrid to Qualitas' European portfolio.
Qualitas Energy has agreed to buy Cero Generation's European clean-energy platform from Macquarie Group, adding a 5.8GW portfolio of solar and battery storage projects across the UK, Italy, and Spain. The acquisition will be made through Qualitas Energy Fund VI, the firm's most recent flagship, and is expected to close in the coming months.
The platform is more than a set of assets. Launched by Macquarie in 2021 and based in London, Cero develops, builds, and operates solar and storage; the deal covers more than 2GW of assets in operation, under construction, or ready-to-build plus a further 3.8GW pipeline, and brings in Cero's local teams and offices in London, Milan, and Madrid. Qualitas already operates in all three markets, and Parejo's description of Cero as a 'natural strategic fit' points to expansion: the acquired team gives Qualitas the means to keep originating and building projects, not just to own completed megawatts.
In a crowded European solar market, the scarce asset is the development engine that repeatedly turns pipeline into construction, not the operational plant. Qualitas is buying the engine and attaching it to its own capital base. After completion, the business will keep the Cero Generation name as an independent portfolio company of Qualitas.
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