NextEnergy Capital’s private equity fund NextPower II has acquired a 16.6MWp solar portfolio developed by Veronagest and other shareholders.
The portfolio comprises six solar plants located in Sicily and built by the top-tier EPC and module manufacturer Sunpower Corporation.
The six solar plants have been operating for over five years demonstrating consistent high performances through the generation of c.27.6 GWh per annum, corresponding to the electricity needs of around 10,200 households and a saving of CO2 emissions of around 11,900 tonnes every year.
The portfolio is currently financed with a long-term project financing by Unicredit, Société Générale Milan Branch and Dexia Crediop.
NextPower II is currently reviewing numerous additional transactions and is progressing its plans to deploy the EUR150 million proceeds from the first closing of the fund in June 2016.
The asset management of the portfolio post acquisition was assigned to WiseEnergy Italia, the largest specialist asset manager of solar plants in Italy. The new portfolio will increase WiseEnergy’s current portfolio under management and monitoring of circa 1,700MW and circa 1,250 utility-scale plants.
The acquisition increases the solar portfolio of investment vehicles managed by NextEnergy Capital to over 450MW, including the solar assets owned by NextEnergy Solar Fund (listed on the London Stock Exchange) in the UK.
Michael Bonte-Friedheim, founding partner and CEO of NextEnergy Capital, says: “We are delighted to acquire such a high-quality portfolio of solar assets from an experienced and reputable counterparty like Veronagest. This acquisition is a further milestone in NextEnergy Capital’s growth trajectory in the European solar sector, where we are one of the top five solar asset owners.”
Aldo Beolchini, managing partner and CFO of NextEnergy Capital, says: “This acquisition positions our NextPower II fund as the preferred partner for owners of and lenders to solar plants in Italy, demonstrating our ability to transact rapidly and value their assets effectively. We expect to announce further acquisitions by NextPower II over the coming months.”


NextPower II was assisted in the due diligence and the acquisition process by Legance as legal adviser, EOS Consulting as technical adviser and Ludovici, Piccone & Partners as tax adviser. Veronagest was assisted by L&B partners as financial advisers, Macchi di Cellere Gangemi as legal advisers and Russo De Rosa e Associati as tax advisers.
