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Offshore wind at scale. That was the draw when CPP Investments bought its 24.5% stake in Hohe See and Albatros in 2018.
Located about 100 km off the coast of Germany’s North Sea, the wind farms were still under construction at the time. But by early 2020, development was complete and they were pushing some 2.5 million-megawatt hours of electricity into the grid—enough to power 700,000 households per year.
Then the world changed. The war in Ukraine laid bare the European Union’s heavy dependence on Russian energy—the superpower supplied 45% of total EU gas imports in 2021—prompting member states to re-evaluate their energy supply chains. As forest fires and other extreme weather events grew more frequent, regulators began to place a more urgent focus on decarbonization. Notably, Washington’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act, containing generous subsidies for clean energy industries, was signed. And Europe soon answered with its own Green Deal Industrial plan.
In just five years, the universe of investors for renewable energy widened dramatically—and for CPP Investments, the opportunity to crystalize returns through an exit became clear.
“The appetite for renewable energy assets certainly increased given greater urgency on both energy transition and energy security,” said Barry Liang, a senior associate on the deal.
Ultimately a buyer was found close to home. In Canada’s Enbridge Inc. Already a joint venture partner with 24.9% of the assets (alongside German utility and majority owner EnBW with 51%)—Enbridge purchased CPP Investments’ stake in 2023. And CPP Investments netted $374 million in net proceeds after costs, delivering returns well above original expectations.
Alongside growing demand, Liang credits the strong return to three key points: investing early in the renewables development cycle; a lower than budgeted construction capital expenditure; and a favourable debt raise earlier on.
The transaction demonstrates that investing in the long term doesn’t always mean holding an asset long-term. But in another sense, it’s good example of how long-term thinking continues to pay off. Having identified decarbonization and renewable energy as a long-term trend, CPP Investments established an early footprint in the space.
Further growth will be financed by a variety of means including partnerships, securing additional financing at the project level and selling down de-risked assets.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize the way the global economy works and how many businesses generate profits.
Article
January 31, 2024
{:en}
By Jack Purich, Managing Director, Balancing Portfolio Implementation
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize the way the global economy works and how many businesses generate profits. As a result, markets have reacted with a flurry of excitement to recent AI breakthroughs and seem to have already picked the “winners” of AI. This group of technology giants—nicknamed The Magnificent Seven—include Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla. Together, they’ve outperformed global equity markets by a stunning 200% over the past five years. In the process, they’ve also become quite expensive compared to trailing earnings (at an average price/earnings ratio of 53x).
Given the large technology and data platforms they possess, declaring The Magnificent Seven to be the “winners” of the AI race seems reasonable. But let’s not pretend markets are always right.
In the late 1990s, markets were enthralled with another emergent technology with the power to revolutionize the economy—the Internet. An early set of “winners” were selected back then too—names like AOL, Nokia, Microsoft, Cisco and Sun Microsystems. Some of those companies flourished (especially Microsoft). But ultimately, it was a set of smaller players, like Apple and Google, or companies that didn’t yet exist, like Facebook, who came out on top. For long-term investors, the question is: will history repeat itself or will this time be different?
Author
Jack Purich
Managing Director, Balancing Portfolio Implementation
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Five Minutes with Michel Leduc
Michel Leduc, Global Head of Public Affairs and Communications, explores evolving industrial policy, concentration risks, and why investors
Video
January 31, 2024
“Challenge your beliefs”: Investing in times of geopolitical turbulence
Over the past several years, Ed Cass has seen first-hand how labour issues, political tensions and technological change have impacted asset
Article
January 31, 2024
Done Deals: Hohe See and Albatros
Offshore wind at scale. That was the draw when CPP Investments bought its 24.5% stake in Hohe See and Albatros in 2018.
Article
January 31, 2024
{:}{:fr}
Auteur : Jack Purich, Directeur Général, Mise en œuvre de Portefeuille d’équilibrage
L’intelligence artificielle (IA) a le potentiel de révolutionner le fonctionnement de l’économie mondiale et le nombre d’entreprises qui dégagent des profits. Par conséquent, les marchés ont réagi avec enthousiasme aux percées récentes dans le domaine et semblent avoir déjà choisi les « gagnants » de l’IA. Ce groupe de géants technologiques, surnommé les « Magnificent Seven », comprend Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, Nvidia et Tesla. Ensemble, ils ont surpassé les marchés boursiers mondiaux de 200 % au cours des cinq dernières années. Par la même occasion, ils sont aussi devenus très chers par rapport aux bénéfices des 12 derniers mois (ratio cours/bénéfice moyen de 53x).
Compte tenu des vastes plateformes technologiques et de données qu’ils possèdent, il semble raisonnable de déclarer le groupe des Magnificent Seven « gagnant » de la course à l’IA. Mais ne faisons pas comme si que les marchés avaient toujours raison.
À la fin des années 1990, l’engouement des marchés portait sur une autre technologie émergente capable de révolutionner l’économie : Internet. À l’époque, un premier groupe de « gagnants » avait également été choisi, parmi lesquels AOL, Nokia, Microsoft, Cisco et Sun Microsystems. Certaines de ces sociétés ont prospéré (en particulier Microsoft). Mais au final, c’est un ensemble de petits acteurs, tels Apple et Google, ou de sociétés qui n’existaient pas encore, à l’image de Facebook, qui l’ont emporté. Pour les investisseurs à long terme, la question est donc la suivante : l’histoire va-t-elle se répéter ou sera-t-elle différente cette fois-ci?
Auteur
Jack Purich
Directeur Général, Mise en œuvre de Portefeuille d’équilibragen
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Five Minutes with Michel Leduc
Michel Leduc, Global Head of Public Affairs and Communications, explores evolving industrial policy, concentration risks, and why investors
Video
January 31, 2024
“Challenge your beliefs”: Investing in times of geopolitical turbulence
Over the past several years, Ed Cass has seen first-hand how labour issues, political tensions and technological change have impacted asset
Article
January 31, 2024
Done Deals: Hohe See and Albatros
Offshore wind at scale. That was the draw when CPP Investments bought its 24.5% stake in Hohe See and Albatros in 2018.
Article
January 31, 2024
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