Repsol Quits Hecate Energy, Sells 40% Stake to Partner Holdings

• Repsol offloads its 40 % share in Hecate Energy to the developer’s parent, ending a legal clash and booking a USD 131 million charge as it refocuses on other US renewables.

Spanish multi-energy company Repsol has struck a definitive deal to divest its entire 40 % interest in Chicago-based solar-and-storage developer Hecate Energy Group to Hecate’s parent, Hecate Holdings LLC, drawing a line under a bruising courtroom battle that had dragged on for close to a year.

Repsol first bought into Hecate in June 2021, paying an undisclosed sum for a minority stake that granted it a foothold in the fast-growing US renewables market and an option to take full control three years later. That very option lay at the heart of the row: when Hecate’s founders exercised a put clause last summer, seeking to offload their remaining 60 %, Repsol balked at the valuation, prompting Hecate Holdings to sue in a Delaware court.

Thursday’s accord unwinds the partnership instead of extending it. Repsol will transfer its shares back to Hecate Holdings and walk away from any obligation to acquire the balance of the company. In a filing with Spain’s securities regulator, the Madrid-listed group said the transaction will shave USD 131 million (EUR 111.7 million) off first-half 2025 earnings, a hit it has already booked in its latest results.

For Repsol, the exit does not mean abandoning US renewables altogether. The company stressed it will now channel resources into ConnectGen, an onshore-wind and storage developer it bought for USD 768 million in 2023, as it pursues 20 GW of global renewable capacity by 2030. Hecate, meanwhile, regains full strategic freedom over its 40-GW pipeline of utility-scale solar and battery projects across 30 US states.

Industry analysts see the settlement as a pragmatic outcome: Repsol avoids an uncertain court ruling and re-focuses on assets it controls outright, while Hecate eliminates shareholder friction just as the US Inflation Reduction Act is turbo-charging demand for clean-energy projects. Whether the split curtails future collaboration remains to be seen, but both sides appear ready to move on.