Reykjavík Energy Invest (REI) and Geysir Green Energy (GGE) announced at a press conference yesterday that the companies would merge under the REI name. After the merger, the company will be worth ISK 65 billion (USD 1.1 billion, EUR 748 million).
“The merger is a way to achieve rapid growth. Size matters, because the companies we will compete with and be in competition with are huge energy companies,” Hannes Smárason, chairman of GGE’s board and CEO of FL Group, told Morgunbladid.
“With an increase in size we will have a larger say as well as access to more funding and thus take on larger projects, which are the most profitable and exciting projects in this business,” Smárason added.
“I am convinced that a merger will bring many opportunities and that there is a bright future ahead,” said Bjarni Ármannsson, who will serve as chairman of the new company’s board.
“But it depends of course on who is holding the cards. It is the responsibility of those in charge to create value. It is far from being within reach, but one could say that time is on our side and the wind is at our backs,” Ármannsson concluded.
Smárason and Ármannsson will introduce the merger at an FL Group investor meeting in London today.
