JLEN completes acquisition of seed portfolio

The environmental fund, whose IPO raised £160m last month, now manages seven operational assets.

John Laing Environmental Assets Group (JLEN) has announced the completion of the entire initial portfolio it set out to acquire upon its March initial public offering (IPO).

The company is now invested in seven operational projects, all of which the firm says will provide long-term, predictable revenues backed by government contracts or stable regulatory frameworks. The cash flows are wholly or partially inflation-linked.

The news follows JLEN’s float on the London Stock Exchange last month, through which the company reached its fundraising target of £160 million (€195 million; $269 million). The vehicle had the option to increase the size of the issue to around £174 million.

The latest asset to be acquired by the fund is the East London Waste Authority waste project, also announced today. Like the rest of JLEN’s portfolio, the project was bought from John Laing, the fund’s parent group.

Other seed assets comprise one solar project (Amber Solar), three onshore wind farms (Bilsthorpe Wind, Castle Pill & Ferndale Wind and Hall Farm Wind), one waste processing project (D&G Waste) and one wastewater treatment project (Tay Wastewater).

JLEN’s IPO and acquisitions replicate the launch of John Laing Investment Fund (JLIF) in November 2010, which aimed at transferring a number of John Laing’s operational social infrastructure assets to a listed vehicle. JLEN expects to have right of first offer on around £185 million worth of the group’s environmental assets within the next three years.

John Laing acquired 39.7 percent of JLEN upon admission on the stock exchange. It originally intended to subscribe for a maximum of 29.9 percent of the fund.