Norway-headquartered Equinor has acquired a 9.8 per cent minority stake in Denmark’s Ørsted, making it the second-largest shareholder behind the Danish state, which holds a controlling stake in the company.

According to Equinor, the company is supportive of Ørsted’s strategy and management and is not seeking board representation.

“Equinor has a long-term perspective and will be a supportive owner in Ørsted. This is a counter-cyclical investment in a leading developer, and a premium portfolio of operating offshore wind assets”, said Anders Opedal, CEO of Equinor.

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“The exposure to producing assets complements Equinor’s operated offshore wind portfolio of large projects under development.”

Equinor acquired 41,197,344 shares in Ørsted A/S, corresponding to 9.8 per cent of the shares and votes in the company. The current market value of Equinor’s holding in Ørsted is around USD 2.5 billion, based on a closing price of 4 October of DKK 418 per share and a USD/DKK exchange rate of 6.8.

Subject to obtaining regulatory approvals under applicable Foreign Direct Investment regulations, Equinor said it plans to increase its ownership to ten per cent.

“This investment is in line with Equinor’s strategy of value driven growth in renewables. The offshore wind industry is currently facing a set of challenges, but we remain confident in the long-term outlook for the sector, and the crucial role offshore wind will play in the energy transition”, said Opedal.

Ørsted has a net renewable generation capacity of around 10.4 GW and a gross portfolio of offshore wind projects in execution of around 7 GW.

The company’s ambition is to achieve a gross installed renewable capacity of around 35 GW to 38 GW by 2030, according to Equinor.

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