25 January (BNS)

The Estonian wind energy developer Nelja Energia and its two owners, the Scandinavian energy company Vardar Eurus and the investment fund Freenergy, signed a merger agreement on Tuesday, Äripaev said. Under the deal, a single Estonian-Norwegian holding company will be created of the three entities.

"That was the beginning of a process. We are planning to give more precise information when the merger has taken place at last," Nelja Energia OÜ Board Chairman Martin Kruus said. He said the process, including regulatory approval, was estimated to take about a month.

Right now each of Nelja Energia's wind farms operates as a separate company. Work has been going in this format since 2005. The wind farms are operated on a day-to-day basis by Nelja Energia under a management agreement.

"There will be a consolidation of management and of owners, a traditional structure will evolve with a parent company, that is, the new merged company, at the top, and the wind farms as subsidiaries," Kruus said.