Foresight Solar Fund has boosted its portfolio after buying a 50MW farm in Wiltshire for £56m.
The purchase of Sandridge solar farm from Goldbeck Solar is Foresight’s second largest acquisition to date and was primarily funded via a new revolving credit facility from Santander Global Corporate Banking.
Sandridge was connected to the national grid in March 2016 and has received a Renewables Obligation Certificate accreditation of 1.3 ROCs/MWh.
Foresight now has 18 solar farms in its portfolio with a total peak capacity of around 470MW.
“The company’s latest acquisition, its second this month, demonstrates the strong pipeline of assets that the investment manager has identified in recent months,” said company chairman, Alex Ohlsson.
“The purchase of Sandridge is in line with the company’s cautious growth strategy, minimising the impact of cash drag for investors.
“The new credit facility was secured at attractive terms and will allow the company to remain competitive when targeting pipeline opportunities during the course of 2017,” added Ohlsson.
The energy and utilities team at law firm Bird & Bird advised Goldbeck on the sale of the solar farm.
“The start of 2017 has been a very busy time in the UK solar industry,” said partner, Elizabeth Reid. “We have worked with Goldbeck from their entry into the UK solar market in 2011, so we are delighted to have been able to advise this valued client on their largest solar sale to date.”