Toyota Tsusho, an affiliate of Toyota, has completed the acquisition of an 85 percent stake in SoftBank Group’s renewables arm SB Energy. SB Energy has been rebranded as Terras Energy and has become a subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho. The remaining 15 per cent of the company is owned by SoftBank. With nearly 4.5 GW of capacity, Terras Energy is anticipated to be amongst Japan’s biggest wind and solar power providers. This comprises 1.02 GW of solar energy and 3.18 GW of wind power.
The agreement was struck in February of 2023, while its financial details were kept confidential. Its objective was to maximise synergies in both firms’ renewable energy businesses. In order to encourage carbon neutral activities and technological developments in the renewable energy sector, Toyota Tsusho intends to employ Terras Energy’s renewable technology by accelerating the establishment of new enterprises.
In addition, Toyota Tsusho and SoftBank intend to collaborate on the development of renewable energy sources as well as the supply and demand management of electricity with the objective of achieving carbon neutrality. The purchase is consistent with Toyota Tsusho’s goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent from their 2019 level by 2030.
In February 2023, Toyota Tsusho Corporation agreed to buy an 85 per cent stake in Japan-based renewable energy developer SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank Group. The transaction would benefit both the companies with respect to their clean energy businesses. Both companies agreed to work together to develop renewable energy and electric power supply-demand adjustments, among other measures to achieve carbon neutrality in their respective operations.
REGlobal’s Views: This massive stake sale by SB Energy comes after its complete exit from the Indian renewable energy market in 2021. Meanwhile, Toyota Tsusho has been gradually increasing its renewable energy portfolio as the company moves towards carbon neutrality.
