Fundraising

Greencoat UK in double wind deal

The £70m acquisition, the fund manager’s eighth since its March IPO, will bring Greencoat’s overall capacity to 153MW.

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Greencoat Capital, the London-based renewables investor, has agreed to pay £70 million (€84 million; $113 million) for the Cotton and Earl’s Hall wind farms. 

 
Formerly owned by German-listed material and energy group BayWa, the power plants will boost Greencoat’s net generating capacity from 126.5 to 153.1 megawatts (MW). The Cotton wind farm, located in Cambridgeshire, will contribute 16.4MW to this total, while Essex-based Earl’s Hall will add another 10.25MW.
 
The amount paid by Greencoat, which covers prepayment of the farms’ existing indebtedness, will involve £6.4 million paid cash as well as debt raised through a fresh facility. The acquisition is expected to complete tomorrow.
 
Both farms were developed by Npower Renewables Limited, a subsidiary of German power utility RWE, and built by the renewables arm of BayWa. They started operating in March 2013. The full price eventually paid for them by Greencoat remains subject to adjustment, in accordance with an assessment of energy production to be carried out over the first two years of operation.
 
Previously known as Novusmodus, Greencoat is adviser to a €200 million renewable energy and cleantech fund launched by Irish utility ESB in 2009. It was rechristened Greencoat Capital in December 2012 to reflect the widening of its activities beyond its relationship with ESB. 
 
The firm launched Greencoat UK Wind in February 2013, subsequently raising £260 million through an IPO on the London Stock Exchange. Upon completion of its latest transaction, the fund – which originally owned six unlevered UK wind farms – will count a total of eight assets.