Canadian asset manager Brookfield is in talks to buy a 53.3% stake in Neoen at a price of €39.85 per share, according to a statement on Thursday. The potential offer is a 26.9% premium to Neoen's last closing price in Paris.

Brookfield, together with Brookfield Renewable Partners and Singapore's Temasek Holdings Pte, plans to acquire 42% of the shares owned by French billionaire Jacques Weir's Impala SAS holding company. The rest of the company will be acquired from certain other shareholders by Neoen.

After completing the stake purchase, Brookfield intends to make a tender offer for the rest of the company at the same price (which could happen in the first quarter of next year, pending regulatory approval) and take it private.

The deal will be one of the biggest in Europe this year and comes as listed clean energy developers are receiving takeover interest after their share prices have been pushed lower by rising interest rates and equipment costs.

Founded in 2008 by Impala, Neoen has grown to become one of the largest independent renewable energy producers combining wind, solar and storage technologies in more than a dozen countries.