RBS and Investec close syndication on the £400m Octopus Solar Financing
Diversified across the south east and west of the United Kingdom, the solar projects attract 20 year fixed income tariffs under the UK Government's Renewables Obligation (RO) subsidy regime and the 522MWp portfolio generates enough green energy directly into the UK national grid to power [200,000] UK households.
Octopus is a fund management company with over £5 billion of funds under management. Over the last five years Octopus has built a renewable energy portfolio of over £1.9 billion across solar, wind, anaerobic digestion, landfill gas and biomass, predominantly located in the UK. It has achieved this by establishing partnerships with experienced developers, including Lightsource Renewable Energy Limited. Lightsource are the leading solar developer in the UK, having delivered over 1GW of ground mounted solar projects.
The Facility, which was underwritten by the Joint Bookrunners, attracted strong interest from the banking and institutional investor markets, closing well oversubscribed.
RBS and Investec were advised by Ashurst (Legal), Sgurr (Technical), Willis (Insurance), Operis (model audit). Dentons (Legal) and Lightsource (Financial) advised Octopus.
Matt Setchell, head of Renewables at Octopus, said: "We are proud to partner yet again with RBS and Investec. The solar market is now an established and maturing industry that offers attractive returns for our investors and we are pleased to have the backing of this leading group of lenders as we continue to invest in the sector. We look forward to working with RBS and Investec on further refinancings in the future as we expand our energy platform and look for new investment opportunities for our investors."
Olivier Fricot, head of Power and Infrastructure Lending, Investec, said: "We are delighted to have closed what is a landmark transaction for the sector with Octopus and Lightsource, two of our long standing relationships. It further endorses the expertise of our team in the UK solar and wider renewables sectors where we continue to see strong levels of lending and M&A activity."
Craig Love, Director, Infrastructure and Structured Finance, RBS, said: "We are glad that our sector and execution expertise, along with our international distribution network, were able to help deliver the right result for Octopus and its investors. RBS has been at the forefront of the UK solar market since its inception in 2010, has funded 1.2GW of projects to-date and, despite recent regulatory changes, retains a strong pipeline of solar projects going forward."
