Closed-end investment company Foresight Solar Fund has acquired a portfolio of 11 operational UK solar assets.
The 100% stake in the UK solar assets portfolio, with a total installed capacity of 80.9MW, has been acquired for £33.1m ($42.2m), including the economic benefit of all cash flows from 1 April 2018.
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Foresight Solar will fund the acquisition with the proceeds of the equity issue of nearly £58m, of which the remaining amount will be used to reduce or repay some of its existing bank facilities.
The equity issue was completed last month through a placing of new ordinary shares of no par value in the company.
The solar assets are spread across various locations, including Bull’s Head in Milton Keynes, Bilsthorpe in Nottinghamshire, Roskrow in Cornwall, Nowhere in Lincolnshire, Ash Farm in Shropshire, Pen & Cae in Carmarthenshire, PS Manor Farm in Bedfordshire, and Playters in Suffolk.
Three other assets that are part of the portfolio include Lindridge in Leicestershire; Abbey Fields in Kent, and Mission in South Yorkshire.
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By GlobalDataForesight Solar’s in-house asset management team will continue to manage the assets, which have been in operation for at least two years.
Foresight Solar Fund chairman Alex Ohlsson said: “We are pleased to complete this acquisition, rounding off what has been a busy year both for Foresight Solar and for the UK renewables market as a whole.
“This acquisition further strengthens our position as the largest UK-listed dedicated solar energy investment company by installed capacity and enhances the diversification of our asset portfolio and ability to drive economies of scale.
“Whilst we do not expect our high volume of activity in the UK secondary market to continue at the same rate in 2019, as previously noted, we are pleased to complete another NAV-accretive acquisition that demonstrates our ability to secure attractive opportunities.”
With the completion of the acquisition, Foresight Solar’s total installed capacity has reached 869MW across 50 UK solar assets, and four Australian assets.
