Acquisition

RNS Number : 9634Y

JLEN Environmental Assets Group Ltd

18 May 2021

 

18 May 2021

JLEN Environmental Assets Group Limited

("JLEN" or the "Company")

Acquisition of a 16.8 MW Energy-from-Waste plant

JLEN, the listed environmental infrastructure fund, is pleased to announce the acquisition of a 45% equity stake in Energie Tecnologie Ambiente S.r.l. ("ETA"). ETA is a 16.8MW energy-from-waste ("EfW") power plant ("the EfW Plant") which processes Refuse Derived Fuel ("RDF"), located in the municipality of Manfredonia in the Apulia region of southern Italy. The €26.75m investment has been made alongside Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners SCSp ("FEIP"), which will also acquire a 45% equity stake. ETA is owned by Marcegaglia Investments S.r.l. (the "Seller") which will retain a 10% equity stake in the EfW Plant.  Completion of this acquisition is subject to a number of conditions which are expected to be finalised by the end of May 2021.

The EfW Plant, which utilises proven technology, has been fully operational since 2012 and earns revenues from: (i) gate fees paid by RDF suppliers to ETA; (ii) incentives related to producing electricity from renewable energy; and (iii) the sale of electricity to the market. In aggregate, c. 74% of ETA's revenues are considered to be backed by long-term contracts or subsidies.

This acquisition represents JLEN's first investment in Italy, further diversifying its portfolio, geographic exposure and revenue base. The Company's Investment Adviser's Italian team was instrumental in the execution of the acquisition and will remain closely involved in the management of the asset.

Richard Morse, Chairman of JLEN, said:

"We are happy to announce JLEN's investment into this energy-from-waste plant which leverages the knowledge and experience gained in owning a number of bioenergy assets already. This is JLEN's first investment in Italy and we look forward to co-owning this locally important asset alongside FEIP and the Seller.

"We believe that assets such as these provide a vital outlet for non-recyclable waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill, and which can be used to generate baseload power to the grid.  The plant has a strong operational track record and we look forward to working with the existing operations team as a new co-owner."

For further information, please contact: 

Foresight Group Chris Tanner Chris Holmes	[phone]
Winterflood Investment Trusts  Neil Langford Chris Mills	[phone]
SEC Newgate Elisabeth Cowell Megan Kovach	[phone]
Praxis Fund Services Matt Falla Gemma Woods	[phone]

About JLEN

JLEN's investment policy is to invest in a diversified portfolio of Environmental Infrastructure. Environmental Infrastructure is defined by the Company as infrastructure assets, projects and asset-backed businesses that utilise natural or waste resources or support more environmentally friendly approaches to economic activity, support the transition to a low carbon economy or which mitigate the effects of climate change. Such investments will typically feature one or more of the following characteristics:

· long-term, predictable cash flows, which may be wholly or partially inflation-linked cash flows;

· long-term contracts or stable and well-proven regulatory and legal frameworks; or

· well-established technologies, and demonstrable operational performance.

JLEN's aim is to provide investors with a sustainable, progressive dividend per share, paid quarterly and to preserve the capital value of the portfolio over the long term on a real basis. The target dividend for the year to 31 March 2022 is 6.80¹ pence per share.  The dividend is payable quarterly.

Further details of the Company can be found on its website www.jlen.com

 LEI: 213800JWJN54TFBMBI68

⁽¹⁾ These are targets only and not profit forecasts.  There can be no assurance that these targets will be met or that the Company will make any distributions at all.

 

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