Bluefield Solar Income Fund Acquires Solar and Wind Projects in UK for USD138.6 Million

Deal In Brief

Bluefield Solar Income Fund Ltd (Bluefield), an investment fund focused on acquiring and managing UK-based renewable energy and storage assets, has acquired solar and wind projects portfolio in UK, for an equity consideration of GBP112.4 million. The combined installed capacity of the projects is 93.2 MW. The transaction implies a deal value of USD1.49 million per MW

The portfolio is consisting of fifteen solar photovoltaic plants with a total installed capacity of 64.9 MW and four wind farms with a total installed capacity of 28.3 MW. The portfolio assets are located across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Of the solar projects, five are accredited under the feed-in-tariff (FIT) regime and ten of the projects are accredited under the Renewable Obligation Certificate (ROC) regime with tariffs of 1.2-1.6 ROCs. All of the wind farms are accredited under the ROC regime, with tariffs of 0.9-1.0 ROCs. In the period 2021-2035, the proportion of fixed and regulated revenues from this portfolio is projected to be approximately 57%. As at the locked box date of the sale and purchase agreement (being 31 December 2020), the portfolio had net third party long term debt of GBP74.8 million

The acquisition has been initially financed using the Bluefield's new and enlarged GBP100 million revolving credit facility (RCF), provided equally by RBSi and Santander UK, which as well as being extended to May 2024, also contains a new accordion tranche of up to a further GBP100 million. The margin on the facility has also been lowered from 2.0% to 1.9%. Following this acquisition, the Company is now fully drawn on this facility and total outstanding debt stands at approximately GBP591.9 million representing 48.8% of Gross Asset Value (GAV)

Bluefield Partners LLP and Numis Securities Limited advised Bluefield on the transaction.

Deal Value (US$ Million)	138.6
Deal Type	Acquisition
Sub-Category	Asset Purchase
Deal Status	Completed: 2022-05-11

Deal Participants

Acquirer (Company)

Bluefield Solar Income Fund Ltd

Deal Rationale

% Acquisition

100%

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