France’s Meridiam acquires 49.9% stake in Great Sea Interconnector

French company Meridiam SAS has agreed to buy a stake in the €1.9 billion Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) project aiming to link the power grids of Cyprus, Greece and Israel through undersea cables across the eastern Mediterranean.

The news was reported by Bloomberg, which cited "people familiar with the deal" but who has asked not to be named "because the deal hasn’t been made public yet."

Meridiam is a Benefit Corporation and an asset manager and, according to the report, under the agreement, the French infrastructure investor will acquire a 49.9% stake in the Great Sea Interconnector project, while Greek grid operator IPTO will retain 50.1%.

"The subsea power link will be among the largest globally and paves the way for integrating Cyprus, the last non-interconnected European Union member, into the bloc’s transmission system. Over 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) of high-voltage cables will be laid at depths of as much as 3,000 meters.

Both companies will fund their share of the project, and the agreement also allows for the possibility of additional investors joining in the future, the people said," Bloomberg reported.

It also noted that representatives for IPTO and Meridiam declined to comment.

"GSI is the implementing entity for the Greece-Cyprus-Israel electricity interconnection project and a subsidiary of IPTO," the news outlet went on to say, underlining, "As part of the agreement, GSI’s board of directors will initially consist of 11 members, six to be appointed by IPTO, also known by its Greek initials as Admie, and the remaining five by Meridiam, the person said."

The organisational structure of GSI will follow the terms of the concession agreement, which both parties have agreed upon, one of Bloomberg's sources also said.

"Construction of the Cyprus-to-Greece link via Crete began in 2023. In the next phase of the project, Israel will also be able to enhance its security of supply while gaining the ability to increase, further and faster, the participation of renewable sources in its energy mix. The venture is included in the EU’s list of projects of common interest and the bloc has already awarded a grant of €657 million for the Cyprus-Crete section," Bloomberg's report concluded.

Meridiam is a global investor and asset manager based in Paris specialised in developing, financing and managing long-term public infrastructure projects. Founded in 2005, Meridiam invests in public infrastructure in Europe, North America and Africa.

Meridiam has offices in ten countries manages $18 billion of assets and has to date invested in over a hundred transport, building and public services projects.

Also read: Cyprus ready for consultations to find common basis on electricity interconnection, Minister says