MPower Unplugs: ASX Clean Energy Player to Sell Assets for $19M in Strategic Exit

In a move that effectively signals the end of MPower Group (ASX: MPR) as a clean energy platform, the company has inked a binding agreement to sell its renewable energy business to Sydney-based Wollemi Energy Group for approximately $19 million.

The transaction includes nearly all of MPower’s operational footprint: its core renewable platform, the Lakeland Solar & Storage Project, a pipeline of future projects, its services business, and other related assets. If approved by shareholders, it will see MPower emerge as a cashed-up shell with around $3.8 million in surplus cash post-transaction and a rebrand to “MPR Australia Limited.”

MPower CEO Nathan Wise summed up the strategic pivot bluntly: “The time has come for the next phase of growth under new owners who can bring greater financial capacity.” In short, while MPower has made strides developing distributed solar and battery assets, capital constraints have clipped its ability to scale. Wollemi, a climate-focused investment firm with deeper pockets, now takes the reins.

The purchase price—$19 million cash, with $2 million deferred for six months—is not just a lifeline but a premium. The implied net asset value post-deal equates to 1.1 cents per share, a 37.5% lift on the prior day’s closing price and a 43.2% bump to the 30-day volume-weighted average.

All existing MPower staff will be offered employment with Wollemi, ensuring continuity of operations. Meanwhile, the company expects to settle its outstanding liabilities and be left with capital for a possible shareholder return or backdoor listing. It’s a sharp about-face from its decade-long journey as a power systems and renewable microgrid innovator.

Shareholders will get a say at a general meeting on 16 July 2025. ASX Listing Rule 11.2 requires shareholder approval for the disposal of a main undertaking—an apt label in this case. The board has unanimously backed the deal and will vote its shares in favour, absent a superior proposal.

But it’s not without caveats. The sale is contingent on a laundry list of conditions, most notably the re-energisation of the Lakeland Solar & Storage Project, which is currently undergoing transformer repairs. Completion is expected by 12 August, pending successful handover of key contracts, employee transfers, and clean technical sign-off on the transformer from Ampcontrol and Ergon Energy.

Wollemi, meanwhile, is building a reputation as an active investor in Australia’s low-carbon economy. Its acquisition of MPower’s assets is a consolidation play, giving it operational scale and a ready-made pipeline of distributed energy projects in the increasingly policy-favoured small-scale renewables space.

For MPower shareholders, the sale raises a fundamental question: where to from here? The company has flagged three options post-sale—returning capital to shareholders, pursuing a new business acquisition, or a hybrid of both. If it doesn’t make its next move by 11 December 2025, ASX will suspend its shares pending further clarity.

For now, MPower is unplugging from its namesake business, effectively handing the keys to a better-resourced player. Whether the shell becomes a cash box for a new venture or a dividend vehicle for patient investors remains to be seen. Either way, it’s the end of an era—and the beginning of something else entirely.