A Czech billionaire is accelerating his “contrarian approach” of acquiring carbon-intensive assets outside the EU, which has been given a boost by Donald Trump’s election as US president and promotion of fossil fuels.
Sev.en Global Investments, which is controlled by Pavel Tykač, has been buying assets such as coal operations in the US, Australia and Vietnam as it bets that the transition to cleaner sources of energy will be slower than anticipated.
Tykač’s strategy, partly aimed at shielding his company from stricter environmental rules in Europe, is now set to benefit from Trump’s return to the White House, with the president pledging that the US will “drill, baby, drill” and tap into fossil fuels.
Sev.en has also agreed to buy UK and Norwegian steel mills from Spanish group Celsa, having judged that the green transition had already run into trouble during the economic slowdown triggered by the pandemic, while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 prompted western politicians to prioritise energy security.
Petr Štulc, chief strategy officer for Tykač’s international operations, said that while it was too early to predict the impact of Trump’s election, diverging green policies around the world would create opportunities for investment.
The difficulty of getting big projects such as new nuclear stations completed on time will also slow down the move to cleaner energy, meaning coal and gas will remain key to meeting countries’ energy needs, Štulc said.
Sev.en has disclosed €1.9bn in consolidated assets outside its home market, excluding a Vietnamese coal power plant acquisition in 2023, and the takeover of the steel mills from Celsa last year.
The deals are awaiting regulatory clearance, and will double Sev.en’s overseas workforce to about 5,500 employees.