Denmark based Obton A/S (“Obton”) secured a mezzanine-type bridge facility in an amount of approx. EUR 22m for brownfield solar PV projects with a total capacity of more than 20 MWp in Italy. The short-term facility with a tenor of 18 months was granted by a
European debt fund and is dedicated to finance the acquisition and revamping of the projects. Obton has been advised by Germany based consulting firm Capcora who acted as sole financial advisor.
The underlying portfolio consists of 17 different solar PV projects put into operation between 2011-2012. All projects benefit from long-term feed-in tariffs based on different Conto Energia schemes in force at the time. The assets have an average age structure of approx. 9-10. years and residual tariffs of 10 to 11 years on a weighted portfolio basis.
While the projects are being held in underlying SPVs, the structurally subordinated debt facility was taken upon the level of an Obton managed Danish holding company being the owner the SPVs.
After technical optimization measures have been finalized also the existing senior debt facilities are being restructured.
Obton is already amongst the largest and most active investors in Italy with a special focus on secondary market solar PV projects. Obton’s strategy is to significantly increase the portfolio allocation in Italy currently standing at more than 130 MWp during the next months and years.
“We still see great potential in the Italian secondary market. As one of the market pioneers with a presence since 2009, we have built up a wealth of technical and financial experience. The mezzanine facility is of great importance to us and will help us to achieve our growth targets in 2021 much faster.”, says Mikkel Berthelsen, Partner and Chief Legal Officer at Obton.
“This example proves that mezzanine can be versatile and beneficial for asset managers like Obton. We are proud to have supported Obton one more time on arranging a niche financial product. Despite the large number of projects, the transaction was completed in only 8 weeks from the signing of the term sheet due to the good preparation and efficient teamwork.”, explains Alexander Kuhn, Managing Partner at Capcora.
Obton was advised by the Danish law firm Kromann Reumert on the legal side and Capcora as financial advisor. The lender was supported by Bech Bruun as legal advisor (documentation).
