The transaction is Italy’s first bond ever in the wind sector and is part of Glennmont’s ongoing activities to realise additional value from its operational assets. It follows last month’s successful refinancing of Glennmont’s Sleaford biomass plant in the UK for £150m.
The SER portfolio is made up of 231 wind turbines across Sicily and Puglia, all of which entered into operation between 2009 and 2012. The portfolio was acquired in June 2016. The refinancing has replaced part of the original project finance debt, from nine financing banks, with one bond listed in the ExtraMOT segment of Borsa Italiana, provided by certain investors managed and represented by a large financial institution. The transaction reinforces Glennmont’s reputation for providing attractive risk-adjusted returns to investors, based on predictable cash yields underpinned by regulated and contracted revenues.
Francesco Cacciabue, CFO at Glennmont Partners, commented: “We are delighted to complete our second major refinancing in a month. This transaction demonstrates Glennmont’s confidence in the clean energy sector across Europe as our investors enjoy an unprecedented yield from our funds’ assets. The increasingly sophisticated financing options open to clean energy asset owners give us the opportunity to realise large amounts of capital and to enhance the overall value of our funds. Investors can look forward to more of the same in the coming months”.
Claudio Vescovo, Investment Director at Glennmont Partners, said: “The complexity of this transaction was underpinned by the level of expertise here at Glennmont and we look forward to realising more value from our assets, both in Italy and further afield. We are pleased to have structured the first ever wind bond financing in the country leveraging on our in-house expertise. The strong demand from investors underlines the quality of the assets we invest in, which offer deep market potential and a balance of yields and returns”.
The refinancing was successfully arranged by Natixis and Unicredit acting as Structuring MLAs and Bookrunners which also provided a liquidity facility. DNV GL acted as the technical adviser, PwC as the tax adviser, and both Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners who provided legal advice to the borrower and lenders respectively.
