Tages Capital SGR has held the final closing of Tages Helios Investment Fund (Tages Helios) with committed capital of EUR253 million.
Tages Helios is a renewable energy investment fund focused exclusively on the Italian solar infrastructure sector and represents one of the largest fundraisings dedicated to the sector.
Tages Helios has attracted interest from institutional investors who were typically enticed by the value and quality of the assets already acquired. Furthermore, the manager’s existing capability to increase target portfolio returns to an IRR in excess of 8 per cent, has added to the appeal. The final investor base breakdown included insurance companies (75 per cent), pension and social security funds (10 per cent), banking foundations (7 per cent), banking institutions (3 per cent), qualified private investors (3 per cent) and Tages management (2 per cent). New subscribers included Aviva, the international insurance group, as well as Equiter, an important Italian investor in real estate infrastructure assets and part of the Intesa SanPaolo Group.
Tages Helios has already invested approximately 60 per cent of the overall committed capital. With a portfolio of 60 solar plants and an installed capacity of 157 Megawatts (MW), Tages Helios is the third largest operator in the Italian solar infrastructure sector, thus confirming the Fund’s objective to play a key role in the consolidation of the Italian solar market. The Fund now has over EUR100 million to invest over the coming months and an important pipeline of potential solar plant investments.
Tages Helios, together with Delos Power (a major operator in renewable energy plant asset management), has become a key part of the Italian solar infrastructure sector. The companies have recently completed a major project to improve the efficiency of the acquired plants and leveraging the recently strengthened management team.
Umberto Quadrino, Chairman of Tages Holding, says: “Tages Helios has fulfilled the ambitious fundraising targets set at launch two years ago. A solid base of diversified Italian and international investors has recognised a product that has excellent potential returns, limited volatility and decorrelation to traditional asset classes. Investor appetite and interest in the numerous solar infrastructure assets for sale in the market, may encourage us to evaluate replicating this strategy in a similar follow-on fund.”
