Prime Capital, an independent asset manager and financial services provider that manages EUR17.7 billion across multiple funds, together with ENERPARC AG, has arranged the junior debt financing for a European solar PV portfolio, which is owned by the independent power producer MKM Invest Group. The portfolio consists of solar PV projects in Germany, France, and Spain with a total capacity of 579MW. The financing of 106m EUR was provided by accounts managed by Prime Capital. ENERPARC, who has been developing and realising the solar parks for MKM Invest Group, supported the fundraising on behalf of the sponsor and will deliver the long-term asset management and O&M services for the portfolio.
German projects represent the majority in the portfolio with a capacity of 367MW, followed by Spain with 108MW, and France with 104MW. The portfolio benefits from an attractive revenue mix, as it includes different feed-in tariff schemes in Germany and France, and PPA-backed projects in Germany and Spain.
As part of this transaction, MKM Invest Group issued five individual bonds in a private placement. The instrument is cross-collateralised by 94 solar PV projects of mainly operational assets as well as projects under construction. According to recent market intelligence, the transaction is considered the largest mezzanine financing in Europe in the renewable energy sector to date.
“Through this transaction, our investor base gets access to cash flows from a large and diversified pool of attractive renewable energy assets, with long-term visibility. This is the third transaction of its kind in less than 15 months for Prime Capital in this Private Debt sub-segment. We are delighted to support the development of ENERPARC and MKM Invest Group and are looking forward to a fruitful collaboration”, says Andreas Kalusche, CEO at Prime Capital. The newest cross-border financing emphasises the positioning of Prime Capital as a leading investment and asset manager in the renewable energy space – not only in Scandinavia through the newly launched Prime Green Energy Infrastructure Fund – but also in Western Europe.
“This transaction raises a significant amount of liquidity and will provide capital for expanding the IPP presence of MKM Invest Group. It will also allow ENERPARC to pursue more project opportunities for MKM Invest Group and to accelerate its European growth strategy,” says Christoph Koeppen, CEO at ENERPARC.
Prime Capital was advised by Simmons & Simmons as legal advisor PKF Wulf & Partner for Financial Due Diligence and Near Future Financial Forecasting for model audit. ENERPARC was advised by Capcora as financial adviser and Luther as legal adviser.
