Vortex sells controlling stake in 365MW portfolio in c.£500m transaction

Vortex Energy has completed the sale of its controlling and managing stake in its 365MW portfolio, originally purchased from ex-SunEdison yieldco TerraForm Power.

TNB International Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of one of South East Asia’s largest utilities, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), has picked up the stake in a c.£500 million deal.

It already held a 50% stake in the Vortex III portfolio, following Vortex parent company EFG Hermes partnering with the utility for the initial purchase, as 50% of the equity share capital was funded by TNB.

The portfolio – which Vortex is lauding as one of the largest standalone portfolios in the UK – consists of 24 farms with an average asset age of 6 years, PPAs with major European energy companies and utilities, a ROC regime and a long-term debt package from lenders including Santander, RBS and ING.

It was originally acquired by Vortex from ex-SunEdison yieldco TerraForm Power in May 2017, paying £470 million for the portfolio following a multi-phase auction process.

Vortex then refinanced the portfolio a month later, and in December 2017 sold a 45% stake to Malaysian pension fund Kumpulan Wang Persaraan.

Karim Moussa, head of private equity and asset management at EFG Hermes, said the sale was a “a major milestone for Vortex”.

Moussa lauded the transaction as delivering a 1.5x cash-on-cash return to investors and an IRR of c.14%.

“We continue to demonstrate our ability to pursue the full cycle of raising capital, investing strategically and exiting major renewable energy portfolios.”

Plans are now under development to establish Vortex IV, a renewable energy platform that will target global generation, storage, distribution and technology businesses.

Bakr Abdel-Wahab, head of energy at EFG Hermes Private Equity said: “Since acquiring the UK assets, we have improved their performance and capital structure via a major refinancing; revamping all key portfolio agreements, partnering with Lightsource BP and establishing a strong London based asset management team.

“We look forward to continue growing Vortex Energy's footprint and investing in energy transition businesses and portfolios globally over the coming period.”