The fund Asterion Industrial Partners closes Iqony Sustainable Energy Solutions Ibérica, its solar division in Spain, and applies an ERE to all staff. The subsidiary, with 400 MW installed, was in the process of dissolution due to accumulated losses.
Asterion Industrial Partners, the largest private equity fund in Spain, has decided to close Iqony Sustainable Energy Solutions Ibérica, the national division of the German company Steag that it purchased two and a half years ago for €2.6 billion. The company, based in Seville and dedicated to photovoltaic parks, was in the process of dissolution and its parent company has opted not to provide any more capital, according to elconfidencial.com.
The firm led by Jesús Olmos manages over €10 billion and had developed 400 megawatts of installed capacity through Iqony, with operations in over a hundred facilities. The subsidiary had another 1,000 megawatts in development, according to its corporate description. The collapse of solar energy prices has led the fund to submit an Employment Regulation File (ERE) for the entire workforce and to exit the country.
Iqony's problems had been ongoing. EY, the auditor of its accounts, had already warned with an emphasis paragraph about the viability of the Spanish company, which was carrying accumulated losses and a negative working capital of nearly €35 million. To avoid bankruptcy proceedings, as the net assets were less than half of the share capital, Steag forgave a corporate debt for a similar amount by selling loans to the parent company based in Essen, which Asterion has owned since 2023.
Official sources from the fund explain that, after its entry into the shareholding, the company defined a new roadmap focused on electricity generation and heating networks, with Germany as the priority market. It currently operates a network of approximately 2,200 kilometres, the largest urban heating network in Germany by area.
"The international photovoltaic business no longer fit with the new strategic direction. For this reason, the company has decided to reorganise these activities and has initiated the employment regulation procedure (ERE) for its Spanish subsidiary. The specific details of its application are part of the ongoing process," official sources from Asterion state.
The company generates nearly €2.5 billion in annual revenue and claims it is accelerating investments in battery storage and thermal storage.
The closure of Iqony occurs in a context of crisis for the Spanish photovoltaic sector. The employers' association UNEF (Spanish Photovoltaic Union) has requested a three-year moratorium and aid of €900 million to prevent the bankruptcy of some plants, which this year have accumulated 900 hours selling energy at zero euros. The Spanish photovoltaic community has nearly a thousand operators of various sizes.
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