Bluefield Solar Inc. - Completion of Phase One of Strategic Partnership

Bluefield Solar Income Fund

25/01/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 8341A  Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited  25 January 2024

25 January 2024

 

Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited

('Bluefield Solar' or the 'Company')

 

Completion of Phase One of the Strategic Partnership with GLIL Infrastructure
('GLIL')

 

·    Following approval under the National Security and Investment Act
2021, the Company is pleased to confirm the completion of its investment of
£20 million of equity, alongside £200 million from GLIL, to fund the
acquisition of a 247MW portfolio of UK solar assets.

 

·    The Company continues to progress the provisional agreement for GLIL
to acquire a 50% stake in a portfolio in excess of 100MW owned by Bluefield
Solar, in line with current valuation, which remains expected to complete in
early 2024.

 

Bluefield Solar (LON: BSIF), the London listed UK income fund focused
primarily on acquiring and managing solar energy assets, is pleased to report
the completion of phase one of its long-term strategic partnership ('Strategic
Partnership') with GLIL. This marks the acquisition of a 247MW portfolio of UK
solar assets from Lightsource bp (the 'Lightsource bp Portfolio'). GLIL is a
partnership of UK pension funds currently with a £3 billion portfolio of core
UK infrastructure assets. GLIL's member funds include Local Pensions
Partnership Investments, Greater Manchester Pension Fund, Merseyside Pension
Fund, West Yorkshire Pension Fund and Nest.

 

As previously announced, the Lightsource bp Portfolio is predominantly
diversified across southern and central England and comprises 58 operating
sites: 184MW backed by Feed in Tariff ('FiT') subsidies, 15MW by Renewable
Obligation Certificates ('ROCs') and two subsidy-free projects totalling 48MW.
 Through the period 2023 to 2035 the proportion of fixed and regulated
revenues from the portfolio is projected to be approximately 80%.  The
acquisition raises the level of regulated revenues in the Bluefield Solar
portfolio, whilst also increasing the proportion of FiT income.

 

Bluefield Solar is investing £20 million, or 9% of the equity, with GLIL
investing the balance.  The Company will fund the acquisition using earnings
which arose in the financial year ended 30 June 2023, after the payment of
dividends, debt amortisation and the Electricity Generator Levy ('EGL').  In
addition, Bluefield Solar has used £10 million of earnings to pay down a
portion of the Company's revolving credit facility ('RCF').  Total retained
earnings prior to this announcement were approximately £60 million.
 Following the Lightsource bp Portfolio acquisition and the partial repayment
of the RCF, the Company's UK holding companies' RCF balance will stand at
£167 million, with long term amortising debt being £430 million.  Overall,
the Company's UK holding companies and its subsidiaries have total outstanding
debt of £597 million, with a leverage level of circa 41% of Gross Asset Value
(broadly unchanged from 30 June 2023).

 

The Company continues to progress phase two of the Strategic Partnership,
where GLIL has provisionally agreed to acquire a 50% stake in a portfolio of
more than 100MW of operational UK solar assets currently owned by the Company
(the 'Bluefield Portfolio').  The provisional acquisition price is in line
with the Company's current valuation.  The Strategic Partnership intends to
reach financial close in the first half of 2024.  The sale of a stake in the
Bluefield Portfolio, as described, will provide Bluefield Solar with
additional liquidity, the proceeds of which provide the opportunity to
continue to pay down the drawn RCF. This phase is expected to complete in
early 2024.

 

 

As announced on 22 December 2023, in phase three, Bluefield Solar and GLIL
intend via the Strategic Partnership to commit capital in a selection of the
Company's development pipeline, assuming market conditions are supportive.
 The identified development assets are expected to be grid connected over the
next two to three years.

 

- Ends -

 

 

 For further information:

                                                           Tel: +44 (0) 20 7078 0020

                                                         www.bluefieldllp.com (http://www.bluefieldllp.com/)
 Bluefield Partners LLP (Company Investment Adviser)
 James Armstrong / Neil Wood / Giovanni Terranova

 Deutsche Numis (Company Broker)                           Tel: +44 (0) 20 7260 1000
 Tod Davis / David Benda / Matt Goss                       www.dbnumis.com (http://www.numis.com/)

 Ocorian                                                   Tel: +44 (0) 1481 742 742

(Company Secretary & Administrator)                      www.ocorian.com (http://www.ocorian.com/)
 Chezi Hanford

 Media enquiries:                                          Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000

Buchanan (PR Adviser)                                    www.buchanan.uk.com (http://www.buchanan.uk.com/)
 Henry Harrison-Topham / Henry Wilson                      BSIF@buchanan.uk.com (mailto:BSIF@buchanan.uk.com)

 GLIL Infrastructure

 Citypress                    www.citypress.co.uk (http://www.citypress.co.uk)
 Justin Moll                  glil@citypress.co.uk (mailto:glil@citypress.co.uk)

 

 

About Bluefield Solar

 

Bluefield Solar is a London listed income fund focused primarily on acquiring
and managing solar energy assets.  Not less than 75% of the Company's gross
assets will be invested into UK solar assets.  The Company can also invest up
to 25% of its gross assets into other technologies, such as wind and storage.
Bluefield Solar owns and operates a UK portfolio of 834MW, comprising 776MW of
solar and 58MW of onshore wind.

 

Further information can be viewed at www.bluefieldsif.com
(http://www.bluefieldsif.com/)

 

About Bluefield Partners

 

Bluefield Partners LLP was established in 2009 and is an investment adviser to
companies and funds investing in renewable energy infrastructure.  It has a
proven record in the selection, acquisition and supervision of large-scale
energy assets in the UK and Europe.  The team has been involved in over £6.5
billion renewable funds and/or transactions in both the UK and Europe,
including over £1 billion in the UK since December 2011.

 

About GLIL Infrastructure

 

GLIL is a partnership of UK pension funds which invests in Britain's future -
creating jobs, supporting communities and helping to power the economy.  It
is a proven investor, with a fund specially designed to help pension fund
members tap into the stable, inflation-linked returns that infrastructure
investment offers. GLIL manages £3.6 billion of committed capital, with more
than £3.0 billion deployed into a growing portfolio of infrastructure assets
spanning renewable energy, energy storage, utilities ports, trains, hospitals
and schools. It invests on behalf of Local Government Pension Scheme DB funds
and pools including Local Pensions Partnership Investments, Greater Manchester
Pension Fund, Merseyside Pension Fund, West Yorkshire Pension Fund, as well as
Nest, the government-established Defined Contribution workplace pension
provider. For more information on GLIL, including its history, executive
committee and investment portfolio, please visit www.glil.co.uk
(https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fprotect-eu.mimecast.com%2Fs%2FhGbsCRMVBfKEG1fNuR0B%3Fdomain%3Deur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com&data=05%7C01%7Cjamie.williamson%40citypress.co.uk%7C1b00971c34cc40677e6a08daf7abb372%7Cde7b31aa5df545528da7af3278edfccd%7C0%7C0%7C638094614075291213%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=bEcu8upaWZ6tOpbGny8hfer4SacBilxpkPfuFtOp5FM%3D&reserved=0)
.

 

About Lightsource bp

 

Lightsource bp is a global leader in the development and management of solar
energy projects. Most recently, bp has announced the intention to fully
acquire Lightsource bp. It is currently operated as a 50:50 joint venture with
bp. Our purpose is to deliver affordable and sustainable solar power for
businesses and communities around the world. For more information on
Lightsource bp, please visit www.lightsourcebp.com.

 

 

 

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