EFG Hermes expects to seal 470 mln pounds deal to buy UK solar assets by June
EFG Hermes expects a deal for its renewable energy platform Vortex to buy a portfolio of solar power assets in Britain for 470 million pounds ($576.8 million) from Sun Edison’s Terraforma (TERP.O) to close in May or June, a senior executive said on Monday.
The deal formed part of the bank’s plan to grow Vortex’s assets to 2 gigawatts in the next few years from 820 megawatts currently, Karim Moussa, chief executive of the investment bank at EFG Hermes, told Reuters.
The bank said in January it had agreed to buy the portfolio from Sun Edison. It includes 24 solar parks and has a combined 365 megawatts of power and an estimated useful life of around three decades, it said at the time.
The bank would look to add to the portfolio after a period of six to 12 months, said Moussa, who is also head of asset management and private equity at the Egyptian bank.
“For the six to 12 months we will be looking to consolidate our assets rather than make another investment,” he said. “Our last investment was 470 pounds so it’s a lot to digest for us.
Malaysian utility firm Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TENA.KL) (TNB) is funding half of the 170 million-pound equity portion of the transaction. The remaining 50 percent will be underwritten by EFG Hermes which plans on eventually holding 5 percent of the equity, consistent with previous transactions undertaken by Vortex. ($1 = 0.8148 pounds) (Reporting by Tom Arnold and Celine Aswad in Dubai, editing by Ed Osmond)
Source:reuters
