Private equity firm AtmosClear Investments has acquired a fully operational 6.4MW rooftop solar portfolio.
Foresight Environmental Infrastructure (FGEN), a listed investment company and a division of the Foresight Group, announced the sale of 100% of its portfolio of operational rooftop solar assets this morning (10 December) for a total of £21.2 million. Upon completion, £20.5 million is payable, with a further £0.7 million in deferred consideration linked to the satisfaction of post-completion obligations.
The portfolio comprises 1,016 residential and 66 commercial ground mount and rooftop solar assets, totalling 6.40MW across 1,082 properties across England, Scotland and Wales.
FGEN acquired the solar assets in 2015—as the firm’s only solar rooftop investment, it is considered non-core to the wider FGEN portfolio. This is FGEN’s second divestment this year after the sale of its interests in a portfolio of anaerobic digestion assets in August.
FGEN said the disposal refines the portfolio, recognises a premium to net asset value (NAV), and recycles capital from a lower returning part of the portfolio into a further reduction of debt in line with the company’s capital allocation policy.
Following the disposal, FGEN’s solar portfolio will consist of 11 ground-mounted solar parks across five investments in England and Wales, making up approximately 13% of the FGEN portfolio by value.
Ed Warner, chair of FGEN, said the firm was pleased with the sales agreement that “provided [it] with substantial funds from a non-core, low yielding asset”.
Graham Bell, CEO of AtmosClear Investments, explained that all of the acquired assets benefit from Feed-in-Tariffs (FiTs) which deliver inflation-linked, government guaranteed revenues for the next 12 years. As such, Atmosclear’s total portfolio of solar assets with FiTs has reached just over 22MW.
This is comprised of 7,236 rooftop properties with an additional 19MW from 61 ground mounted solar farms.
Bell added: “Our portfolio is actively managed in-house from our UK operations centre in Crowborough. Our highly experienced and specialised team works with homeowners and housing associations to make sure our customers have a hassle-free experience and maximise the energy savings from the solar panels on their properties.
“We are expanding and evaluating store-and-forward batteries, heat pumps, electric car chargers and continue to look for opportunities to add value to our portfolio and customers’ installations. It has been a pleasure to work with Foresight Group on this transaction.”
