Gresham House looks to raise £15m of debt financing

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund is aiming to raise £15 million to fund the acquisition of further additional battery storage projects.

It is launching a new private offer of secured power bonds to do this, with the funding to advance loans to energy storage projects and/or to refinance existing shareholder loans, Gresham House said. 

In particular, the proceeds of the initial series of 5.0% per annum fixed rate bonds are to be used to acquire an operating asset which the company said is at an advanced stage of due diligence.

Adding this project into Gresham House's existing portfolio of operational assets is expected to be accretive to the fund’s cash flow and NAV per share, it said.

The bonds can be issued in more than one series, with each series having a term of five years from the issue date. Gresham House said they provide its group with “attractive, flexible fixed rate financing terms with low arrangement, legal and other ancillary fees” compared to a typical revolving credit facility or project finance.  

The power bonds will pay interest semi-annually, in arrears, in equal instalments and have a maximum, aggregate subscription amount of £40 million. The offer period is open for 12 months and is therefore set to close in July 2021.

This week has been a busy one for Gresham House, having unveiled the acquisition of a 41MW of energy storage for £20.1 million. It also appointed a new hire – Peter Bachmann as a fund manager – to its British Strategic Investment Fund, targeting investments into sustainable infrastructure and housing.

In March, Gresham House raised £31.2 million through an oversubscribed share placing and in October 2019 it raised £41.6 million through a share placing, however this fell short of its original target of £58 million.