M&A Associate

Hybrid working model, with regular presence in Milan and close interaction with the Sky Distributed Energy team and our local platform businesses in Italy and Portugal.

The role will require regular travel, particularly within Italy and to Portugal, as well as occasional travel to other European markets.

Company Context

Sky Distributed Energy is a pan-European distributed energy business backed by Sky, a renewable energy fund managed by Octopus Energy Generation.

We develop, finance, own and operate decentralised energy assets across Europe, working through local operating platforms including Coralsun in Italy and SparkWave Energy in Portugal and Spain. Our activities span behind-the-meter solar, small-scale distributed generation, battery storage and other energy-transition solutions for commercial and industrial customers.

As the business grows, acquisitions of third-party projects and portfolios are becoming an increasingly important complement to our internally developed pipeline. These opportunities range from individual or portfolios of Ready-to-Build (“RtB”) projects through to operating renewable-energy assets, including behind-the-meter projects, Portuguese UPP portfolios and portfolios of Italian FER X projects.

To support this strategy, we are looking for a M&A Associate – Southern Europe who can help originate, assess and execute these transactions alongside our local platforms and the wider Sky Distributed Energy investment team.

Role Purpose

The M&A Associate will be a core member of Sky Distributed Energy’s investment capability in Southern Europe, with an initial focus on Italy and Portugal.

The role will work closely with the Head of Investments and the management teams of Coralsun and SparkWave to execute acquisitions of renewable-energy projects and portfolios from initial screening through due diligence, investment approval, negotiation and closing.

This is a hands‑on transaction role. The Associate will be expected to own the financial model and transaction analysis, coordinate due diligence workstreams, manage advisors and counterparties and help local platform teams navigate acquisition processes efficiently.

Given the distributed nature of the assets we acquire, an important part of the role will be applying institutional investment discipline pragmatically and proportionately. A portfolio of sub-1MW projects should receive robust diligence, but the process should not simply replicate the cost and complexity of acquiring a 500MW utility-scale project. The Associate will therefore help develop repeatable acquisition processes, identify the issues that genuinely drive value and risk, and focus internal and external resources accordingly.

The role should suit a highly analytical and commercially minded person who wants significant transaction responsibility early in their career and is excited by the opportunity to operate on the principal / buy‑side within a fast‑growing renewable‑energy business.

Key Responsibilities

• Support and increasingly manage acquisition processes from initial assessment through signing and completion.
• Coordinate transactions involving RtB, construction‑stage and operational distributed‑energy assets, initially primarily in Italy and Portugal.
• Manage transaction timetables, information requests, data rooms, due diligence trackers, advisor workstreams and internal responsibilities.
• Act as a day‑to‑day point of coordination between Sky Distributed Energy, Coralsun, SparkWave, sellers and external advisors.
• Identify key transaction issues early, elevate them appropriately and drive them towards resolution.
• Support negotiation of Heads of Terms, exclusivity arrangements and transaction documentation alongside internal and external legal counsel.
• Maintain clear visibility over open items, conditions precedent, approval requirements and closing deliverables.

Financial Modelling and Valuation

• Own and maintain financial models for project and portfolio acquisition opportunities.
• Translate technical, commercial, regulatory and contractual inputs into robust investment cases.
• Analyse project cash flows, investment consideration, development premium, operating performance, tax assumptions and expected investment returns.
• Perform valuation analysis for operating assets and RtB portfolios using appropriate methodologies.
• Run sensitivities and downside cases to identify key value drivers and investment risks.
• Review and challenge vendor models and assumptions rather than relying solely on third‑party analysis.
• Ensure transaction models are transparent, well documented and capable of being efficiently updated throughout a transaction.
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