Company is over 75% committed

RNS Number : 5084W

Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited

30 December 2013

 



30 December 2013

BLUEFIELD SOLAR INCOME FUND LIMITED

Company is over 75% committed six months after listing

Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into binding contracts to acquire a further three UK based large-scale solar plants. It has also agreed to an extension to its plant in Oxfordshire which has already been constructed by Ikaros Solar.  The three plants plus the extension will be acquired for a total equity consideration of c. £38.5million, taking the Company's total commitments to date to c. £94million.

In total, the Company has invested into seven UK based solar plants with a combined capacity of 81 MegaWatts Peak ("MWp"). All investments are either grid-connected or expected to be operational and grid-connected by March 2014. 72MWp are expected to benefit from 1.6 Renewable Obligation Certificates ("ROC"s), with the balance invested into a 2 ROC project grid connected in March 2013. The Company has now committed over 75% of the net IPO proceeds in the six months since the Company was listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Acquisitions

Contractor	Location	Consideration
Solarcentury	Hampshire, England	£7m
Ikaros Solar	Norfolk, England	£12m
Ikaros Solar (extension to existing plant)	Oxfordshire, England	£7.5m
Prosolia UK	Glamorgan, Wales	£12m
Acquisitions already announced		£55.5m
Total		£94m

Following the sale of the projects, the contractors will warrant the performance of the plant for an initial period and will undertake the ongoing operation and maintenance of the plant under a separate agreement.

The Company can confirm that, based on the existing committed projects and the terms agreed on this portfolio, it remains on course to deliver against its target dividend of 4 pence per ordinary share in relation to the first financial year ending 30 June 2014, and 7 pence per ordinary share in respect of the Company's second financial year, with the intention of this rising annually with RPI thereafter.

Bluefield Partners LLP ("Bluefield"), the Company's Investment Adviser, will seek to outperform that return by active management strategies across the invested portfolio. The Company is insulated from development risk by the contractors taking full responsibility for the construction and delivery of the plants. The Company takes over assets once grid-connected and operational and three of the seven plants invested to date are either operational or guaranteed by the contractor to be revenue producing in January 2014.

The Company is in advanced negotiations with contractors on further projects and expects to be fully committed early in 2014.

Enquiries:

James Armstrong / Mike Rand / Giovanni Terranova

Bluefield Partners LLP - Company Investment Adviser

Tel: [phone]

Tod Davis / David Benda

Numis Securities Limited - Company Broker

Tel: [phone]

Kevin Smith

Heritage International Fund Managers Limited - Company Secretary & Administrator

Tel: [phone]

Note to editors

About Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (the "Company" or "BSIF")

BSIF is a newly incorporated Guernsey-registered investment company focusing on large scale agricultural and industrial solar assets. The Company raised gross proceeds of £130 million in July 2013 through an initial public offering ("IPO") of shares on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.

The Company seeks to provide shareholders with an attractive return, principally in the form of semi-annual income distributions, by investing in a diversified portfolio of solar energy assets, each located within the UK, with a focus on utility scale assets and portfolios on greenfield, industrial and/or commercial sites.

About Bluefield Partners LLP ("Bluefield")

Bluefield was established in 2009 as a specialist investor into solar energy. Bluefield's team has a proven track record in the selection, acquisition and management of large scale energy and infrastructure assets in the UK and Europe.

 

The managing partners have been involved in over GBP350m of solar photovoltaic ("PV") funds and/or transactions in both the UK and Europe since 2008, including over GBP170m in the UK since December 2011. Bluefield has led the acquisitions, and currently advises, on over 50 UK based solar assets.

 

Bluefield was appointed Investment Adviser to the Company in June 2013.

 

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