Desfina Refinancing

RNS Number : 8573K

Aquila European Renewables Income

10 May 2022

 

10 May 2022

Aquila European Renewables Income Fund plc

Desfina Refinancing

Aquila European Renewables Income Fund plc ("AERIF" or "the Company"), the London-listed investment company advised by Aquila Capital Investmentgesellschaft mbH ("Investment Adviser"), today announces that Desfina, a wind farm in which the Company's wholly owned subsidiary holds an 89% interest[1], successfully closed a refinancing of the existing bank debt.

Desfina is an operating, onshore wind asset, which consists of two wind farms with an aggregate capacity of approximately 40 MW. The asset is supported by an attractive, 20 year, Feed-in Premium for 100% of production. Desfina is expected to have an operating life of 25 years.

The refinanced bank debt has a principal amount of approximately EUR 38 million, with a tenor of close to 18 years and is fully amortising and hedged. Proceeds from the refinancing will be used to fully repay the existing debt and cover transaction costs. Compared to the existing bank debt in place, the refinancing resulted in a reduction of the margin by 75 bps per annum, a reduction in annual debt amortisation by approximately 30% per annum over the next 10 years and an extension of tenor by approximately 4.5 years.

The existing bank debt was inherited as part of the acquisition of the asset by AERIF in December 2020. Following a comprehensive market sounding process, the Company is pleased to announce that the Investment Adviser was able to secure the refinancing at improved terms, including margin, tenor and amortisation profile.

Ian Nolan, Chairman commented: "We are pleased to have secured the refinancing at such attractive terms. In coordination with our Investment Adviser, we identified a refinancing as a potential source of upside to our business case when we first acquired the asset. The refinancing was ultimately concluded at terms which exceeded our upside case at the time of acquisition."

Ends

For further details contact:

Media Contacts

Edelman Smithfield

Ged Brumby 07540 412301

Kanayo Agwunobi  07581 010560

Sponsor, Broker and Placing Agent

Numis Securities 020 7260 1000

Tod Davis

David Benda

Vicki Paine

European Broker

Kempen & Co [phone]

Maarten de Zeeuw

Kathrin Erfurth

Robin van Wijk

NOTES

Aquila European Renewables Income Fund plc is a London-listed renewable energy infrastructure investment company with the aim to provide investors with an attractive long-term, income-based return in EUR through a diversified portfolio of hydropower, onshore wind and solar PV investments across continental Europe and Ireland. Through the diversification of generation technologies, the seasonal production patterns of these asset types complete each other to balance the cash flow, while the geographic diversification serves to reduce exposure to one single energy market.

www.aquila-european-renewables-income-fund.com

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[1] Voting interest. Economic interest is approximately 94%.

 

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