Eleventh and Twelfth Acquisitions

RNS Number : 4437N

Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited

28 July 2014

 



28 July 2014

BLUEFIELD SOLAR INCOME FUND LIMITED

Two further acquisitions

Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into binding contracts to acquire two large-scale solar plants to be constructed in south west England. The acquisitions are the eleventh and twelfth made by the Company in the past twelve months. The two assets comprise an 8.5 MegaWatts Peak ("MWp") plant in Devon and a 6 MWp plant in Somerset. They are being acquired for a total consideration of £15 million including transaction costs, debt costs and working capital. They are expected to qualify under the 1.4 Renewable Obligation Certificate ("ROC") regime.

The contracts have been signed with Juwi AG, the German renewable energy contractor. Its UK subsidiary, Juwi Renewable Energies, will build the plant. It will also undertake the ongoing operation and maintenance of the plant under a separate agreement. The Company has agreed strong contractual protections during the construction phase and post commissioning.

Since its Initial Public Offering ("IPO") in July 2013, the Company has invested into twelve, wholly owned, solar plants with a combined energy capacity of c. 143 MWp. These two new acquisitions, along with the acquisition of the Hertfordshire based plant announced on 18 June, 2014, are using part of the £50 million revolving credit facility provided by the Royal Bank of Scotland. The remaining nine assets in the portfolio were acquired using the IPO proceeds and subsequent placement; they are now grid connected and operational. As expected, Betingau in Glamorgan was grid connected under the 1.6 ROC banding and Sheppey, in Kent, under the 1.4 ROC banding.

The average price paid for the portfolio

ROC banding	No. of Plants	Combined Capacity (MWp)	Average Net Price1 ( per MWp)	Average Gross Price2 (per MWp)	Total Committed
2	1	7	£1.34m	£1.36m	£9.5m
1.6	7	93.5	£1.12m	£1.14m	£106.5m
1.4	4	42.5	£1.04m	£1.08m	£46m
TOTAL	12	143	£1.10m	£1.13m	£162m

¹Net of transaction costs, working capital and debt costs

²Inclusive of transaction costs, working capital and debt costs, where applicable

The Company can confirm that it expects to deliver against its target dividend of 4 pence per ordinary share in relation to the first financial year ending 30 June 2014, and 7 pence per ordinary share in respect of the Company's second financial year, with the intention of this rising annually with RPI thereafter.

The Company expects to announce its first full year results in September, 2014.

Enquiries:

James Armstrong / Mike Rand / Giovanni Terranova

Bluefield Partners LLP - Company Investment Adviser

Tel: [phone]

Tod Davis / David Benda

Numis Securities Limited - Company Broker

Tel: [phone]

Kevin Smith

Heritage International Fund Managers Limited - Company Secretary & Administrator

Tel: [phone]

Note to editors

About Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (BSIF)

BSIF is a Guernsey-registered investment company focusing on large scale agricultural and industrial solar assets. It raised gross proceeds of £130 million in July 2013 through an initial public offering of shares on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. It raised a further £13 million in February, 2014 in an oversubscribed placement. In June, 2014, it agreed a three-year revolving credit facility with Royal Bank of Scotland plc, for up to £50 million.

BSIF seeks to provide shareholders with an attractive return, principally in the form of semi-annual income distributions, by investing in a diversified portfolio of solar energy assets, each located within the UK, with a focus on utility scale assets and portfolios on greenfield, industrial and/or commercial sites.

About Bluefield Partners LLP (Bluefield)

Bluefield was established in 2009 as a specialist investor into solar energy. Bluefield's team has a proven track record in the selection, acquisition and management of large scale energy and infrastructure assets in the UK and Europe.

 

The managing partners have been involved in over £400m solar energy transactions in both the UK and Europe since 2008, including over £235 million in the UK since December 2011. Bluefield has led the acquisitions, and currently advises on, over 50 UK based solar assets.

 

Bluefield was appointed Investment Adviser to the Company in June 2013.

About Juwi Group (Juwi)

Juwi is one of the world's leading enterprises in the renewable energy sector. Since 1996 Juwi has been designing, building, financing and operating plants that harness renewable energy.

 

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