Masdar has bought Saeta Yield, the Spanish wind and solar company Brookfield has owned since 2018, at an enterprise value of $1.4 billion. In 2018 the same company changed hands at $2.9 billion. The fall looks dramatic. Most of it is explained by what Brookfield kept and by what six more years did to the fleet.
Key takeaways
- Masdar signed an agreement on 24 September 2024 to acquire Saeta Yield, a developer, owner and operator of renewable projects in Spain and Portugal, from Brookfield at an enterprise value of $1.4 billion, including an equity value of $774.6 million. The deal completed on 20 December 2024.
- The Saeta Yield sale excludes a regulated portfolio of 350 MW of concentrated solar power assets in Spain, which Brookfield retains and continues to operate.
- Saeta Yield's portfolio at the time of the Masdar deal totalled 2.34 GW, made up of 745 MW of operational assets (538 MW of wind in Spain, 144 MW of wind in Portugal and 63 MW of solar PV in Spain) and 1.6 GW of pipeline projects.
- TerraForm Power, the Brookfield-sponsored vehicle, acquired 100 percent of Saeta Yield in 2018 at a value of $2.9 billion, covering 778 MW of onshore wind and 250 MW of concentrated solar with an average age of six years.
- Masdar's $1.4 billion enterprise value works out at about $1.88 million per MW of Saeta Yield's 745 MW operational portfolio, against $2.83 million per MW paid for the larger, younger 2018 fleet.
How did a $2.9 billion company become a $1.4 billion one?
The two prices do not describe the same company. In 2018 Saeta owned wind farms and concentrated solar plants, and Leap's 2018 record says over 80 percent of its revenues were regulated under the Spanish renewable power regime. The concentrated solar plants, which Leap's 2024 record describes as a regulated portfolio, sat inside that base. Brookfield has kept them.
Concentrated solar power, or CSP, uses mirrors to focus sunlight and drive a steam turbine, and Saeta's Spanish CSP plants earn under a regulated framework. Take that portfolio out and the business Masdar is buying is mostly onshore wind, plus a small solar PV fleet and a large development pipeline. That is a different risk profile from the one TerraForm Power bought.
On a like for like reading, the ratio is less striking than the headline. Masdar's price is about 48 percent of the 2018 value. But the 2018 value covered 1,028 MW of operating plant including the CSP. Masdar's covers 745 MW of operating plant without it, plus pipeline.
What did six years do to the wind fleet?
Wind farms lose value as they age because their remaining useful life shortens. In 2018 Saeta's assets averaged six years old with more than 25 years of useful life left. By 2024 the operational portfolio Masdar acquired had a weighted average age of 14.68 years.
Some of the named assets show the vintage: the 50 MW Seron 1 wind farm in Almeria began operating in 2008, the 40 MW Sierra de las Carbas wind farm in 2009 and the 50 MW Teso Santo wind farm in 2011. These are not assets a buyer pays a premium for on their current output alone.
That is why the per MW comparison falls from $2.83 million to $1.88 million. It is also why the pipeline matters. Older sites with existing grid connections are candidates for repowering, which means replacing old turbines with fewer, larger ones on the same land.
How does the deal value split between equity and debt?
The $1.4 billion enterprise value includes $774.6 million of equity value. The remaining $625.4 million is the value of claims beyond the shares, which Enerdatics takes to be largely the company's debt. Masdar is therefore writing a cheque well below the headline figure.
The 2018 deal was even more debt heavy. TerraForm Power offered $14.64 per share, or $1.2 billion for the equity, while Saeta carried $1,708.8 million of net debt at the end of 2017. Against Saeta's reported 2018 EBITDA of $290.7 million, the 2018 enterprise value was about 10 times earnings.
The power sales arrangements Masdar inherits are a mix. Leap records that the portfolio's output is sold in the merchant market and through PPAs with the Government of Spain and with EDP.
Enerdatics' data shows that price disclosure in Spanish operational wind remains thin. Of nine operational wind transactions in Spain announced between January 2023 and June 2025, four carry a disclosed value. A 257 MW portfolio sold in July 2023 for $491 million, or $1.91 million per MW. A 10.75 MW asset sold in December 2023 at $1.53 million per MW, and an 857 MW portfolio sold in May 2023 for $706.5 million at 8 times EBITDA. Saeta's $1.88 million per operational MW sits at the top of that small range, which is consistent with the pipeline carrying real value in Masdar's price.
What does the deal signal for Spanish and Portuguese renewables?
For Brookfield, the sale is asset rotation in its plainest form. Leap records that since 2018 Brookfield focused on divesting non core assets, optimising Saeta's capital structure and positioning it for hybridisation, repowering and development. Having done that work, it has sold the wind business and kept the regulated CSP cash flows.
For Masdar, Saeta is one step in a deliberate build up in Iberia. Shortly before this deal it acquired a 49.99 percent stake in Endesa's 2.5 GW renewables portfolio in Spain from Enel for $921.59 million. Masdar has also been buying into UK offshore wind, including its 50 percent stake in East Anglia 3 and its 49 percent stake in Dogger Bank South. The stated aim is 100 GW of global capacity by 2030.
The first evidence of what Masdar plans for Saeta has already appeared. In December 2025 Saeta Yield secured about $398.9 million from a bank consortium to refinance wind and solar assets in Portugal, through senior loans maturing in 2041, plus a revolving credit facility of about $234.6 million. The proceeds will fund repowering the Portuguese wind assets from 124 MW to 144 MW and a potential 110 MW solar hybridisation, Saeta's first repowering and hybridisation project.
That is the clearest answer to why an ageing wind fleet still commanded a price at the top of the Spanish range. The value lies in sites, grid connections and permits that can be rebuilt with newer equipment. Expect more Iberian sellers of mid life wind portfolios to market them on repowering potential rather than current output.
Frequently asked questions
Who advised on the Masdar acquisition of Saeta Yield? Citigroup Global Markets and KPMG were financial advisors, Linklaters was legal advisor and UL was technical advisor to Masdar. Santander, KPMG and Societe Generale advised Brookfield on the financial side, with Uria Menendez as legal advisor and G-Advisory as technical advisor.
Why did Brookfield keep the concentrated solar plants? The 350 MW CSP portfolio is regulated, and Brookfield chose to retain and continue operating it. The sale fits Brookfield Renewable's asset rotation strategy of recycling capital into growth.
When did the Saeta Yield deal close? Masdar and Brookfield signed on 24 September 2024 and the transaction completed on 20 December 2024, in line with the expected close by the end of 2024.
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