Irish renewable infrastructure firm Greencoat Renewables has agreed to acquire 51.9MW of operating wind capacity in France.
The company will purchase the assets from UK-based infrastructure investor John Laing Group for a total consideration of €30.3m.
John Laing chief financial officer Luciana Germinario said: “Following the recent divestment of our interest in the Buckthorn Wind farm in the US, we are pleased to announce today the sale of our French wind farms after a competitive sale process.
“We have a portfolio of high-quality assets becoming available for sale over the next two years. While the impact of recent events on secondary markets remains to be seen, the strength of our balance sheet means we are well positioned to maximise value.”
The portfolio consists of three wind farms namely the 20MW Passilly in Burgundy, the 21.6MW Sommette in Picardy and the 10.3MW St Martin in Saint-Martin-l’Ars.
The wind farms were commissioned between September 2016 and June 2018 and features Gamesa, Nordex and Senvion turbines.
The portfolio of operating wind parks has an overall net enterprise value of €95m and a 16-year long-term fixed-rate project finance.
The wind parks will receive fixed feed-in tariff (FiT) remuneration with a weighted average remaining FIT of 12.3 years.
The acquisition will be funded by Greencoat Renewables’ €380 million credit facility
The deal will be funded by Greencoat Renewables’ €380m credit facility. The completion of the acquisition is subject to approval from French regulatory authority.
Upon completion of the transaction, the company’s installed capacity is expected to increase to 528.1MW.
Greencoat Capital investment manager Bertrand Gautier said: “The acquisition will bring gearing to 43%, which is towards the lower end of our target range and will provide flexibility to pursue further opportunities as they arise.
“We are also pleased to have partnered with John Laing, again demonstrating our ability to transact with leading investors and developers across the sector.”
