Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers dedicated to sustainable investing, and BNP Paribas Asset Management, announced they each acquired an equal, large equity stake with equal governance rights in the French renewables’ developer Arkolia from the historical co-founders heirs and a group of minority shareholders, and invested primary money to fund the growth of the company. Arkolia’s co-founder and current President, Jean-Sébastien Bessière, will retain and strengthen its participation to remain the reference shareholder alongside its employees. 

Arkolia is a fast-growing French fully integrated developer, #2 IPP for rooftop photovoltaic in the French market and active on the ground-mounted photovoltaic and wind segments. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Mauguio near Montpellier, the company has a total installed capacity of 562MW in operation as of 2023.

This transaction is a key milestone to accelerate Arkolia’s development. In addition to acquiring the existing shares, it will enable the company to finance its projects pipeline, reinforce its national coverage and continue to invest in its talents. Mirova and BNPP AM will not raise third party financing for this acquisition.

Arkolia will remain a multi-energy player, with the ambition of reaching nearly 1.5 GW, doubling its revenue to target and surpass €500 million, and integrating over 350 employees in the coming years.

The transaction is pending regulatory approvals expected to close in H1 2025.

“Our goal was to identify allies capable of providing the necessary resources to accelerate our growth while preserving the unique DNA of our group, characterized by our strong capacity for innovation and our commitment to value sharing. My intention, as co-founder and president, was to retain most of my stake in the ownership alongside the employees. This strategic alliance represents much more than just a new chapter in our story; it is the beginning of a whole new book filled with challenges and opportunities. This has now been achieved with a consortium comprising two leading French institutional partners. This alliance strengthens our ability to fulfill our founding promise: achieving energy independence by democratizing and decentralizing renewable energy.” Jean-Sébastien Bessière, Co-founder and President of Arkolia.

“After several years of partnership, we are proud and enthusiastic to become a shareholder of Arkolia alongside BNPP AM. With this investment, we will provide the company with the financial means to achieve its ambition and, after 15 years of activity, offer a clear growth path to the teams under the leadership of Jean Sebastien Bessière and Katia Sigaud. We strongly believe that Arkolia can consolidate its leadership position in the French rooftop solar which is a fast-growing sector to decarbonise the decentralised energy production and requires proven scaling capabilities that the company has built over the years.” Raphaël Lance, Head of Energy Transition Funds at Mirova.