With a combined capacity of 513.5 MWp across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and powering the equivalent of approximately 184,000 homes, the portfolio is the largest operational solar portfolio transacted in the UK to date with a value of circa. £700m.
Schroders Greencoat is the largest manager of operating solar farms in the UK** with 1.35 GWp of solar assets already under management. Schroders Greencoat’s extensive track record will benefit the Toucan Energy portfolio, and its specialist team of asset managers intend to harness the portfolio’s reliable generation of clean electricity and support the long-term financial stability of the assets.
The majority of the portfolio will be acquired by long-standing Schroders Greencoat managed funds, including Greencoat Solar II LP and Greencoat Renewable Income LP, as well as recently launched mandates. A significant portion is being acquired by six Local Government Pension Schemes: Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire Funds via Schroders Greencoat Wessex Gardens LP, a place-based and locally-focused renewable energy infrastructure fund established last year. Tokyo Century is acting as a co-investor in the acquisition.
Schroders Greencoat agreed to acquire the Toucan Energy portfolio following a competitive bidding process managed by the joint administrators of Toucan Energy Holdings 1 Limited at Interpath Advisory.
Lee Moscovitch, Partner at Schroders Greencoat, said: “We are thrilled to have agreed to acquire the largest operational solar portfolio put to market in the UK. This is a major achievement for Schroders Greencoat, particularly given the size, complexity and number of stakeholders involved in the transaction.
“We will aim to deliver reliable returns for our investors via these assets, as they continue to provide a substantial contribution to the UK’s net zero strategy.
“I’d like to thank the joint administrators at Interpath Advisory for their management of a thorough due diligence process, which along with our own assessments, demonstrated the high quality of the underlying assets in the portfolio.”
Jim Tucker, Managing Director at Interpath Advisory and joint administrator of Toucan Energy Holdings 1 Limited, said: “We are delighted to have reached this landmark agreement with Schroders Greencoat which will see this excellent solar portfolio move into new ownership, delivering optimum value and generating a significant return for the portfolio’s creditors.
“This was a highly competitive sales process, requiring substantial preparation, due in no small part to the fact that assets of this scale and quality rarely come to market. We look forward to the transaction completing in the coming weeks.”
RBC Capital Markets acted as exclusive financial adviser to Schroders Greencoat on the transaction. Schroders Greencoat’s advisory team included Eversheds Sutherland, Evergy and PwC.
The joint administrators at Interpath Advisory were supported by KPMG LLP (M&A), Herbert Smith Freehills LLP (Legal), Interpath Advisory (Financial & Tax), Cornwall Insight Ltd (Commercial), The Natural Power Consultants Limited (Technical), and significantly by Toucan’s management team, for which the joint administrators express their thanks.
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