Downing Renewables & Infrastructure Trust (DORE) has completed the acquisition of a 96MWp portfolio of c50 solar PV assets located in mainland Great Britain and Northern Ireland for a total consideration of GBP42 million (including working capital balances and cash held by the portfolio companies).
The transaction was completed pursuant to an option agreement entered into on 12 November 2020.
The portfolio, described as the “Seed Assets” in the Company’s prospectus published on 12 November 2020, says: 13 ground-mounted sites located across mainland GB totalling c73 MWp; 28 commercial rooftop assets totalling c10 MWp; and seven residential rooftop portfolios in Northern Ireland totalling c13MWp.
The Assets have an average operating track record of around six years and generated revenue of GBP12.5 million and EBITDA of GBP9.9 million in the year to 31 March 2020. The Assets are expected to contribute significantly to DORE’s target dividend yield going forward, with a particularly strong contribution to yield in the calendar year to 31 December 2021.
This is the second acquisition that DORE has announced since its GBP122.5 million IPO on the London Stock Exchange in December 2020 and a total of GBP102 million has now been deployed. The Company has also announced that it has entered into exclusivity to acquire a c40 per cent stake in a 100MW near-shore windfarm construction asset in Sweden.
DORE is targeting investment in a diversified portfolio of renewable energy generating assets and other infrastructure, which balances higher yielding, lower capital growth of defined life assets such as solar and wind, with lower yielding, higher capital growth assets such as hydro, in the UK, Ireland and Northern Europe.
Tom Williams, Head of Energy & Infrastructure at Downing LLP, says: “The combination of this solar portfolio, the hydro portfolio acquisition in January and the wind project under exclusivity encapsulates DORE’s strategy of diversification by geography, technology, construction stage and revenue. Together, it provides strong, stable, diversified and high-quality earnings that will underpin DORE’s dividend and NAV for years to come.”
