Project Acquisition

RNS Number : 2667Q

Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited

11 October 2013

 

11 October 2013

BLUEFIELD SOLAR INCOME FUND LIMITED

Project Acquisition

Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (the "Fund" or "BSIF") is pleased to announce that it has acquired a large-scale solar plant in near Launceston in Cornwall. The plant, constructed and operated by German solar contractor Parabel AG, was grid connected at the end of March 2013 under the 2 Renewable Obligation Certificate ("ROC") regime. The total investment cost for the acquisition of the 6.87 MegaWatt Peak ("MWp") plant was £9.35 million. The acquisition has been made without debt financing.

The Fund can confirm that, based on the existing committed projects and the terms agreed on this portfolio, it remains on course 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. Bluefield Partners LLP ("Bluefield"), the Fund's Investment Adviser, will seek to outperform that return by active management strategies across the invested portfolio.

Since listing on July 12, 2013, the Fund has made three investments to acquire large scale operational assets. The earlier projects were acquired from leading contractors, Solarcentury and Ikaros Solar. The two assets, to be qualified for 1.6 ROCs, are based in Norfolk and Oxfordshire, and will have a combined capacity of 26 MWp for a total investment consideration of £29m. Both plants are in an advanced stage of construction and are guaranteed by the contractors to be grid connected within 2013.

Bluefield has agreed terms on a further four large scale sites that will take the Fund to over 75% committed. Combined with the three acquisitions already announced by the Fund, the new assets are expected to take the Fund's total commitments to nearly £100m, with a total energy capacity of some 83 MWp. The Fund's total portfolio represents an average acquisition cost of £1.16m per MWp, including the most recent operational 2 ROC project acquisition.

The Fund expects to make further announcements in the coming days.

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 (the "Fund" or "BSIF")

BSIF is a newly incorporated Guernsey-registered investment fund focusing on large scale agricultural and industrial solar assets. The Fund raised gross proceeds of £130 million in July 2013 through an initial public offering ("IPO") of shares on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.

The Fund 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 £350m of solar photovoltaic ("PV") funds and/or transactions in both the UK and Continental Europe since 2008, including over £170m in the UK since December 2011.

 

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

About Parabel AG

Parabel AG was established in 1992 is a highly experienced European based solar contractor. Headquartered out of Berlin, Germany, Parabel AG completed c.100MWp of solar installations in 2012 across European markets.

 

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