LISBON, March 18 (Reuters) – Portugal\u2019s pulp producer Altri said on Thursday it had hired financial advisers Lazard to prepare a stock market listing of its renewable unit Greenvolt on the Lisbon bourse, as it aims to shift from biomass to solar and wind energy.<\/p>\n
Altri also picked former chief executive of EDP Renovaveis , Joao Manso Neto, to be the CEO of Greenvolt, it added.<\/p>\n
Greenvolt has five thermoelectric plants producing energy from forest biomass, with about 97 MW of installed capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreenvolt has an ambitious national and international expansion project. Under the leadership of Manso Neto … Greenvolt intends to consolidate its leadership position in the national market and assert itself as a reference player at the international level,\u201d Altri said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Biomass will remain its core business, but Greenvolt also seeks to expand \u201cthrough innovative models, of solar and wind energy\u201d, it said.<\/p>\n
Altri also mandated Portuguese law firm Vieira de Almeida & Associados to study the Initial Public Offering at Euronext Lisbon. Altri did not give further details, nor did it say when the IPO could take place.<\/p>\n
In July, a Lisbon judge ordered the suspension of the chief executive of EDP-Energias de Portugal and Manso Neto, who was then CEO of subsidiary EDP Renovaveis, as part of a corruption investigation. EDP and the two former CEOs denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n