Eiffel Investment Group has taken 49 percent of a German solar pipeline of more than 500 MWp from the aream Group. No price was disclosed, and none of the projects is yet built. What Eiffel has agreed to pay is something else: most of the cost of getting them there.
Key takeaways
- Eiffel Investment Group announced on 6 May 2024 that it acquired a 49 percent stake in a solar portfolio of more than 500 MWp in Germany from the aream Group, through its Eiffel Transition Infrastructure Fund.
- The deal value for Eiffel's stake in the aream portfolio was not disclosed, and Eiffel will cover the majority of the portfolio's development costs.
- The transaction formed Aream Solar Ventures, a joint venture to develop photovoltaic and battery projects in Germany, with the aream Group managing its operations.
- The aream portfolio combines open-space solar and agri-PV projects in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg, with each project expected to take 18 to 36 months to develop.
- Of 22 German development-stage solar M&A transactions announced between January 2024 and June 2025 recorded by Enerdatics, only one carries a disclosed value, and that one is a corporate acquisition rather than a project sale.
What is Eiffel paying for if there is no price?
Development. Eiffel's main contribution is not a purchase price paid to aream but a commitment to fund the bulk of the work needed to bring the projects to construction. That includes the permitting, grid applications, land agreements and studies that a solar project needs before anyone can build it.
This changes how the deal should be read. In a conventional sale, the buyer pays the seller for what already exists. Here, the money mostly goes into the joint venture to create value that does not yet exist. aream keeps 51 percent and gets its pipeline funded. Eiffel gets close to half of whatever the projects are worth once they are ready to build.
The joint venture, Aream Solar Ventures, is the vehicle for that work. aream will manage its operational side, drawing on its experience in project development and financial management. Eiffel provides the capital. The structure lets a developer grow without selling its projects outright and lets a fund enter a market without building a development team.
Why does development stage matter so much in Germany?
Because it is where most of the risk sits. Each project in the aream portfolio is expected to take between 18 and 36 months to develop. Over that period, some projects will fail to secure permits or grid connections, and others will be resized. A pipeline of 500 MWp today is a target, not a guarantee.
The portfolio also includes agri-PV. Agricultural photovoltaics, or agri-PV, places solar panels on land that continues to be farmed, usually by raising the panels or spacing their rows so crops or grazing can continue underneath. It can widen the land available for solar, but it adds design and permitting complexity alongside conventional open-space installations.
The target regions are Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg, all in the east of the country. The venture also plans to develop battery projects, in line with aream's strategy of expanding its German development portfolio across both photovoltaics and storage.
Is this deal part of a wider Eiffel pattern?
Yes, and a consistent one. The aream deal was the sixth investment of Eiffel's Transition Infrastructure Fund in Europe. One month earlier, Eiffel agreed to take half of a 1.8 GW Swedish portfolio from Landinfra Energy for $32.3 million. In April 2023 it bought a minority stake in a 500 MW Italian solar portfolio from Green Genius for $16.48 million.
The common thread is a near-half stake in an early-stage pipeline, held alongside the developer that created it. Eiffel buys influence and a share of upside at a low entry price, and pays for that upside through development funding rather than through an upfront cheque.
Enerdatics records eight development-stage asset deals by Eiffel Investment Group between April 2023 and July 2026, across Italy, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Romania and Norway. Six of the eight are stakes of between 49 and 50 percent. Only two carry a disclosed value: the Italian deal at $16.48 million and the Swedish deal at $32.3 million, which grossed up to 100 percent is about $0.04 million per MW. The German market is even more opaque. Of 22 German development-stage solar transactions announced between January 2024 and June 2025, only BlackRock's $200 million purchase of ENVIRIA carries a value, and it bought a company with a 2,300 MW pipeline rather than a portfolio of projects.
What does the deal signal for German solar development?
It shows that the market for early-stage German solar is mostly a market in partnerships, not prices. Developers like aream want capital to carry projects through two or three years of development without giving up control. Funds like Eiffel's want exposure to future operating assets at a cost far below what finished projects command. A 49 percent stake with a development funding commitment gives both sides what they need.
The price opacity follows from that structure. When most of the buyer's money funds future work rather than buying existing assets, there is often no single consideration figure to disclose. That makes German development-stage solar hard to benchmark on a per MW basis, and it means investors should judge these deals by their terms rather than their headline value.
Other buyers have taken different routes into the same market. Novar's purchase of a solar park from WiNRG came with a development services agreement signed alongside the sale, another way of paying a developer to finish what it started. In each case the developer stays involved, and the buyer pays for its expertise as much as for its land and permits.
Legal advice on the aream transaction came from Bird & Bird for Eiffel Investment Group and McDermott Will & Emery for aream.
Frequently asked questions
What did Eiffel Investment Group buy from aream? Eiffel acquired a 49 percent stake in a German solar portfolio of more than 500 MWp from the aream Group, announced on 6 May 2024, and formed the joint venture Aream Solar Ventures.
How much did Eiffel pay for the aream stake? The deal value was not disclosed. Eiffel will cover the majority of the portfolio's development costs as part of the agreement.
Where are the aream solar projects located? The open-space and agri-PV projects target Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg in Germany, with each expected to take 18 to 36 months to develop.
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