London-headquartered M&G Investments (M&G) has shown that the appetite for renewable energy assets has not abated in 2015.
The firm is providing £60 million (€76.5 million) to Primrose Solar to finance five solar farms across the UK.
M&G clients are seeking to secure long-term cash flows by providing inflation-linked financing repayable over 18.5 years. The financing will be secured against five assets, solar farms spread across Glamorgan, Norfolk, Dorset and Canworthy Water in Cornwall. The latter was connected to the UK National Grid last December and generates 41 m/w, making it one the largest operational solar sites in the UK.
Tim Huband, head of project and infrastructure finance at M&G, says: “These landmark transactions inject long-term institutional financing into the emerging solar power sector. We have structured the deals to deliver inflation-linked returns, with good security to our pension fund clients.”
Funds investing into the solar sector was a feature of last year. The $30 billion (€25.1 billion) US hedge fund DE Shaw & Co set aside $150 million for a joint venture with Altus Power America Management to develop commercial solar projects.
In this recent M&G deal, Novatio Capital Limited trading as The Renewable Financing Company acted as the arranger.
©2015 funds europe
