(Alliance News) - Greencoat Renewables PLC, one of the two London-listed funds run by Greencoat Capital, on Wednesday announced its first investment move since the announcement that its manager will be bought by Schroders PLC.
Greencoat Renewables, which buys in euro-denominated renewable energy infrastructure assets, said it has agreed to its first acquisition in Spain. It will buy the Torrubia solar farm from international solar developer Lightsource bp for an undisclosed price.
Torrubia is under construction in La Muela in eastern Spain, near Zaragoza, and is expected to start commercial operations in the fourth quarter of next year. The deal is structured as a forward sales agreement, completing only once Torrubia is fully operational.
The move into Spain by Greencoat Renewables follows forays into France, Finland and Sweden.
It also follows the announcement on Tuesday that Schroders will buy a 75% shareholding in Greencoat Capital Holdings for an initial GBP358 million. Last week, Schroders had said that it was in advanced talks with Greencoat Capital LLP to buy a significant stake in the business.
Greencoat, which has offices in Dublin and London, is one of Europe's largest renewable infrastructure managers, with GBP6.7 billion of assets under management at November 30. In addition to Greencoat Renewables, it also is the investment manager for Greencoat UK Wind PLC.
Both Greencoat Renewables and Greencoat UK Wind had emphasised on Tuesday that there would be no change to their relationship with the investment manager, or to their investment strategy, following the acquisition.
Greencoat will become part of Schroders Capital, the private markets division of Schroders, and will be renamed Schroders Greencoat.
"As the renewable generation market continues to develop, we expect to see greater opportunity in the unsubsidised renewable market and believe Greencoat Renewables is well positioned to benefit both in Europe and in Ireland," Paul O'Donnell, a partner at Greencoat Capital, said after the Spanish acquisition.
Greencoat Renewables shares were up 1.8% at EUR1.11 late Wednesday afternoon in London.
By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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Schroders (SDR)
Greencoat UK Wind (UKW)
Greencoat Renewables (GRP)