Greencoat UK Wind buys two wind farms for £87m

(Sharecast News) - Greencoat UK Wind has bought Church Hill and Crighshane wind farms for £87m, including the prepayment of existing project finance debt facilities.It purchased the wind farms from the Irish Infrastructure Fund, a fund jointly managed by AMP Capital and Irish Life Investment Managers, and from the Viridian Group, who held a minority stake.Church Hill is located 16 miles north west of Omagh in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and has a capacity of 18.4MW. Crighshane is located 20 miles north west of Omagh in County Tyrone and has a capacity of 32.2MW.Both wind farms are equipped with Enercon E70 turbines and have been operational since July 2012. Chairman Tim Ingram said: "We are very pleased with our latest acquisitions - high quality ROC accredited wind farms with a strong operating track record, which will deliver an attractive investment return to our investors. The portfolio as a whole now provides sufficient electricity to power over 750,000 homes."The deal was funded by the company's £80m revolving credit facility plus reinvestment of group cash of £7m.At 1505 GMT, the shares were flat at 124.65p.