TerraForm Power Announces Sale Of 365 Megawatt UK Portfolio
TerraForm Power, one of SunEdison’s two yieldcos, has announced the sale of its portfolio of UK solar projects representing 365 megawatts (MW) to renewable energy platform, Vortex.
TerraForm Power is one of two yieldcos set up by now-bankrupt SunEdison, and has been involved in the bankruptcy proceedings while simultaneously trying to solidify its own standing as a standalone entity. In September, TerraForm Power and its sister yieldco TerraForm Global announced that they were seeking billions in settlement claims from its parent company, in the hopes that it would avoid having to take SunEdison to court.
SunEdison responded much like a 16 year-old might, getting all passive aggressive in a press release put out in early October.
Since then, both yieldcos announced that they expect to be “operationally independent” by January, 2017.
Presumably in line with this promise, TerraForm Power announced the sale of a portfolio of 24 solar projects based in the United Kingdom and representing 365 MW. The sale, which is valued at approximately $580 million, was made to Vortex, a renewable energy platform managed by EFG Hermes’ private equity arm. The portfolio is thought to be one of the largest portfolios of solar projects in the UK, accumulated by TerraForm Power during 2014 and 2015.
According to TerraForm’s press release, “Operating expects to receive approximately $208 million of proceeds from the sale, net of certain transaction expenses and distributions expected to be taken from the UK Portfolio before closing, and subject to potential currency fluctuation.” Further, TerraForm Power is going to use the proceeds of the transaction to “enhance its liquidity position and reduce its net debt.”
“The TerraForm Power Board and management team continues to execute on our key strategic initiatives, including fleet optimization and deleveraging, and this transaction demonstrates our progress in positioning the Company for value creation,” said Peter Blackmore, Chairman and Interim CEO of TerraForm Power. “Given the strong demand for operational United Kingdom solar plants, we are pleased to capitalize on the opportunity to monetize the high-quality portfolio of solar plants that our team has assembled and strengthened over the last two years and generate significant value for our shareholders.”
“The United Kingdom is a key contributor to Europe’s solar market,” added Karim Moussa, EFG Hermes Head of Private Equity. “This Portfolio offers us an attractive entry point with a long-term investment proposition in the country. Our existing asset base in Vortex paid superior cash yields to our investors to date. We are delighted to add this high quality Portfolio to the platform and bring in the United Kingdom’s premier solar developer as our technical partner.”
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Latest CleanTechnica.TV Video
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
