Brookfield Renewable Sees an Enormous Opportunity in Helping Companies Go Green

It's going to cost a staggering amount of money to battle climate change. Estimates suggest we need to invest an eye-popping $150 trillion by 2050 to decarbonize energy systems and the global economy. That represents a massive opportunity for Brookfield Renewable (NYSE: BEP)(NYSE: BEPC) to leverage its access to capital and expertise to help companies decarbonize their operations.

Many companies are already partnering with Brookfield to help them achieve their climate goals. Meanwhile, Brookfield is actively targeting others that would benefit from its expertise. It recently unveiled its first target by offering to privatize Australian power company AGL Energy (ASX: AGL). Here's why Brookfield wants to take control and help companies like AGL Energy clean up their emissions profiles.

Brookfield Renewable is teaming up with GROK Ventures (controlled by Mike Cannon-Brookes, a billionaire climate activist who co-founded software company Atlassian) to take AGL Energy private. They offered 7.5 Australian dollars ($5.41) per share, valuing AGL's equity at A$5 billion ($3.6 billion). That's a roughly 5% premium to AGL's closing price as of Friday. However, it's a fraction of the energy company's former peak, as it has shed 75% of its value over the last five years.

Source Fool.com