TRIG Secures £500m ESG-linked SONIA Facility
18 December 2020
The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited ('TRIG')
("TRIG" or "the Company", a London-listed investment company advised by InfraRed Capital Partners ("InfraRed") as Investment Manager and RES ("Renewable Energy Systems") as Operations Manager)
TRIG secures £500m ESG-linked SONIA credit facility to support new investments
The Board of TRIG is pleased to announce that the Company has successfully refinanced and expanded its revolving credit facility ('RCF') at lower rates to support its investment in new renewable energy projects. The facility is used by the Company for short-term financing of acquisitions. The renewed RCF of £500m has been made available to TRIG for a three-year term and the larger size of the facility reflects the increased scale of acquisitions being made by the Company. TRIG's intention remains to refinance drawings under the RCF through the proceeds of equity issuance. The RCF is currently undrawn.
The interest charged in respect of the renewed RCF is linked to the Company's ESG performance. TRIG will incur a premium or reduction to its margin and commitment fee based on performance against defined sustainability targets. Those targets include:
· Environmental: increase in the number of homes powered by clean energy from TRIG's portfolio
· Social: increase in the number of community funds supported by TRIG
· Governance: maintaining a low Lost Time Accident Frequency Rate (LTAFR)
The LTAFR is a key metric monitored by asset owners that measures the number of personnel injured and unable to perform their normal duties for seven days or more for each hundred thousand hours worked. The inclusion of this target aligns the cost of the renewed RCF with a key metric for TRIG: safety at work.
Performance against these targets will be measured annually with the cost of the RCF being amended in the following year.
The facility duration is three years to 31 December 2023. The consortium of lenders includes the existing lenders (National Australia Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland International and ING) and three new participants (Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Barclays and Santander). The margin can vary between 184bps and 194bps over SONIA ('Sterling Overnight Index Average') for Sterling drawings, and 180 bps and 190bps over EURIBOR for Euro drawings, depending on the Company's performance against its ESG targets.
Richard Crawford, Director, Infrastructure at InfraRed Capital Partners, said: "This expanded loan facility will allow us to take full advantage of our promising pipeline and provide even more clean energy to more homes across our core markets. TRIG is committed to supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy and investing for the future benefit of our shareholders."
Helen Mahy CBE, Chairman of TRIG, said: "We're very proud to have secured one of the first ESG-linked SONIA loans. We have set ourselves ambitious but achievable targets for the next few years which underline our commitment to sustainability and align our interests with our debt and equity investors."
Enquiries
InfraRed Capital Partners Limited +44 (0) 20 7484 1800
Richard Crawford
Phil George
Maitland/AMO +44 (0) 20 7379 5151
James Isola
Zara de Belder
Notes
The Company
The Renewables Infrastructure Group ("TRIG" or the "Company") is a leading London-listed renewable energy infrastructure investment company. The Company seeks to provide shareholders with an attractive long-term, income-based return with a positive correlation to inflation by focusing on strong cash generation across a diversified portfolio of predominantly operating projects. TRIG is targeting an aggregate dividend of 6.76 pence per Ordinary Share for the year to 31 December 2020.
TRIG is invested in a portfolio of over 70 wind, solar and battery storage projects with aggregate net generating capacity of over 1.6GW. TRIG is seeking further suitable investment opportunities which fit its stated Investment Policy.
Further details can be found on TRIG's website at www.trig-ltd.com .
Investment Manager
TRIG's Investment Manager is InfraRed Capital Partners Limited ("InfraRed") which has successfully invested in over 200 infrastructure projects since 1997. InfraRed is a leading international investment manager focused on infrastructure and real estate. It operates worldwide from offices in London, Hong Kong, New York, Seoul, Sydney and Mexico City. With over 190 professionals it manages in excess of USD 12 billion of equity capital in multiple private and listed funds, primarily for institutional investors across the globe. InfraRed is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
The infrastructure investment team at InfraRed consists of over 85 investment professionals, all with an infrastructure investment background and a broad range of relevant skills, including private equity, structured finance, construction, renewable energy and facilities management.
InfraRed implements best-in-class practices to underpin asset management and investment decisions, promotes ethical behaviour and has established community engagement initiatives to support good causes in the wider community. InfraRed is a signatory of the Principles of Responsible Investment.
Further details can be found on InfraRed's website at www.ircp.com .
Operations Manager
TRIG's Operations Manager is RES (" Renewable Energy Systems"), the world's largest independent renewable energy company.
RES has been at the forefront of wind energy development for over 38 years, with the expertise to develop, engineer, construct, finance and operate projects around the globe. RES has developed or constructed onshore and offshore wind, solar, energy storage and transmission projects totalling more than 17GW in capacity. RES supports over 6.3GW of operational assets worldwide for a large client base. Headquartered in Hertfordshire, UK, RES is active in 10 countries and has over 2,000 employees engaged in renewables globally.
RES is an expert at optimising energy yields, with a strong focus on safety and sustainability. Further details can be found on the website at www.res-group.com .
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