29 March 2022
Foresight Solar Fund Limited
("Foresight Solar" or "the Company")
Project Lorca debt refinancing
Foresight Solar, a fund investing in a diversified portfolio of ground-based solar PV and battery storage assets in the UK and internationally, is pleased to announce that it has reached completion on a €28.0 million senior debt facility for the 98.5MW Lorca portfolio ("Project Lorca") in Granada, Spain, secured on attractive terms.
The senior debt facility will be provided by BayernLB (the "Lender") and enables Foresight Solar to obtain a long debt structuring tenor. The interest rate is fixed at a competitive rate to the market. The debt facility enables Project Lorca to optimise its capital structure and deliver higher cash yields whilst complying with financial covenants and debt service coverage ratios.
Following this transaction, the Company's total outstanding debt is £538.0 million, representing approximately 45.9% of Gross Asset Value ("GAV") of the Company and its subsidiaries based on the Company's 31 December 2021 GAV of £1,172.0 million. This is within the 50% limit on total gearing of the Company's GAV outlined in the prospectus.
The refinancing is the latest step in the development of Project Lorca which is currently under construction and is on track to be grid connected and exporting electricity by June 2022. In late 2021, the Project entered into a ten-year fixed price Power Purchase Agreement ("PPA") with Norway-based Statkraft, Europe's largest producer of renewable energy. The PPA provides the portfolio with a long-term hedge for approximately 70% of its annual production and increases the Company's revenue visibility.
For further information, please contact:
Foresight Group |
|
Nish Sivarajan |
+44 (0)20 3911 2318 |
|
|
|
|
Jefferies International Limited |
+44(0)20 7029 8000 |
Neil Winward |
|
Gaudi Le Roux |
|
|
|
Citigate Dewe Rogerson |
+44(0)20 7638 9571 |
Toby Moore |
|
Lucy Eyles |
|
Lucy Gibbs |
|