CPP Investments to buy stake in oil and gas producer Aera Energy

• Aera Energy is a Bakersfield, California-based oil and gas producer
• In September 2022, IKAV announced plans to acquire Aera, created as a joint venture between Shell and ExxonMobil
• CPP Investments agreed to purchase 49 percent of the company from IKAV

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has agreed to partner with IKAV to acquire Aera Energy, a Bakersfield, California-based oil and gas producer. No financial terms were disclosed.

In September 2022, IKAV announced plans to acquire Aera, created as a joint venture between Shell and ExxonMobil. CPP Investments agreed to purchase 49 percent of the company from IKAV.

CPP Investments and IKAV intend to help Aera balance its energy transition efforts with the need to continue meeting California’s conventional energy demands by investing in a renewable energy portfolio.

On the transaction, Bruce Hogg, managing director, head of sustainable energies at CPP Investments, in a statement: “Our investment in Aera Energy is consistent with a number of investments we’ve made which will help California transition to secure, green energy supplies, while at the same time will deliver long-term risk-adjusted returns for the CPP Fund. CPP Investments believes that enabling emissions reduction and business transformation in the energy sector can drive strong returns for long-term investors as part of the whole economy transition, and partnering with a like-minded investor like IKAV presents an excellent opportunity to put that decarbonization investment approach into action.”

Based in Toronto, CPP Investments is Canada’s largest pension system. As of December 31, 2022, its assets under management totaled C$536 billion. It also has offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney.

IKAV is an international asset management group based in Germany, with local offices in Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, Portugal, USA and France.