4th November 2015 – Lightsource Renewable Energy Holdings (“Lightsource”) and its financial adviser, The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (“RBS”), are pleased to announce the successful £284m refinancing of a portfolio of UK solar projects, owned and operated by Lightsource. The 101 megawatt portfolio consists of 33 operational, UK based, ground-mounted solar projects which attract 20-25 year fixed income tariffs under the UK Government’s Feed in Tariff subsidy regime.
Lightsource, Europe’s leading solar energy company, is the largest developer, asset manager and operator of utility scale solar in the UK, currently managing an operational portfolio of more than 1 gigawatt – capable of generating enough to power more than 330,000 UK households each year. The portfolio, distributed across central and southern UK, became operational throughout 2011-2015 and was previously financed by a combination of multiple bank loans.
Lightsource has raised over £1.1bn of project finance debt during 2015 and this transaction represents Lightsource’s first move into the long-dated institutional market, completing the first ever sterling, benchmark-size solar bond and the largest sterling renewables bond. M&G Investments provided £247 million of 22-year inflation linked finance with AMP Capital providing a £37 million 8-year mezzanine facility . The transaction, priced via RBS, demonstrates M&G and AMP Capital’s continued commitment to financing in the solar sector.
