(Bloomberg) -- Neoen, the renewable energy project developer controlled by French billionaire Jacques Veyrat, plans to raise about 450 million euros ($525 million) in an initial public offering, which would be the largest in France this year.

The company will use the proceeds to fund its plans to add capacity at its power plants, Paris-based Neoen said in a statement Wednesday. A share sale could value the company at about 1 billion euros, people familiar with the matter said previously.

If Neoen raises the full amount, its IPO will be the largest in France this year, beating computer server maker 2CRSI SAS’s 50.3 million euro share sale, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The 10-year-old company runs wind and solar farms in a about a dozen countries from France to Australia, where it has built the world’s largest lithium-ion battery storage system in partnership with Tesla Inc.

Veyrat’s holding firm Impala SAS will subscribe to the IPO and remain a majority owner, Neoen said in the statement. Impala currently has a 54.4 percent stake.

Financing Growth

Private equity firm Omnes Capital owns 22.8 percent of Neoen, and the rest is owned by state-run investment group Bpifrance, the company’s management and its employees, according to its website.

“Our initial public offering is designed to finance the acceleration of our growth to achieve total capacity in operation and under construction of at least 5 GW by the end of 2021” Chief Executive Officer Xavier Barbaro said in the statement. “It is with great enthusiasm that we initiate this planned offering, which will enable us to maintain our independence while welcoming new investors to join our long-standing shareholders.”

The company is targeting consolidated revenue of 220 million euros to 230 million euros and current earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 170 million euros to 175 million euros for 2018, it said in the statement. By 2021, Neoen is aiming for Ebitda of about 400 million euros.

Firms comparable to Neoen in the listing include Canada’s Boralex Inc., EDP Renovaveis SA and Denmark’s Orsted A/S.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ruth David in London at rdavid9@bloomberg.net;Francois de Beaupuy in Paris at fdebeaupuy@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Hauck at dhauck1@bloomberg.net, ;James Herron at jherron9@bloomberg.net, Amy Thomson, Matthew Monks

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