Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. has offered US$1.5-billion to buy the minority chunk of renewable energy provider TerraForm Power Inc. that it doesn’t already own.

The plan allows the Brookfield partnership, an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., to add to its wind and solar assets and continue to benefit from a turnaround at TerraForm. Brookfield Renewable acquired its 62-per-cent stake in TerraForm Power in 2017, when it bought an affiliate company, TerraForm Global Inc.

Terraform Power operates a portfolio of wind and solar power facilities across North America and western Europe.

Monday’s offer of US$17.31 a share is a 11-per-cent premium to TerraForm’s closing price on Friday and values TerraForm at just under US$4-billion. To pay for the acquisition, Brookfield Renewable Partners is offering shares in its Brookfield Renewable Corp. entity, rather than cash, which would allow TerraForm stockholders to participate in the upside, the company says.

TerraForm said on Monday the Brookfield Renewable proposal was both unsolicited and non-binding, and that its board has formed a special committee of independent directors that will review the proposal. TerraForm said “there can be no assurance” that a deal will be made.

If the committee approves the offer, it would still require approval from a majority of the remaining minority shareholders.

Sachin Shah, chief executive of Brookfield Renewable Partners, said, 
“We’re really doing this primarily because we think that if we merge the two companies, keep it all public, we have a bigger, stronger business from which to continue to grow in the renewable space."