A TEAM of Yorkshire lawyers advised Newcastle-based Eaga on a £300m debt and equity fundraising for its ongoing solar power project.
The rooftop solar PV scheme will see HSBC Infrastructure Fund, Barclays Infrastructure Fund and Eaga invest £75m of equity, with a consortium of five banks comprising RBS, National Australia Bank, HSBC, Lloyds and Santander lending £225m to the scheme.
The funds will be used to install up to 37,000 solar PV systems on properties owned by social landlords in England.
The project is the first of its type and scale in the UK and takes advantage of the Feed In Tariffs, which were introduced to the UK in 2010.
This is the latest in a series of transactions DLA Piper has undertaken for Eaga, with the Sheffield team acting on the company’s IPO in 2007 and all its significant transactions since.
Jon Kenworthy, partner in DLA Piper’s Sheffield corporate team said: “We are pleased to be working with Eaga and its partners on this high- profile and groundbreaking project.
“It is a unique proposition which uses private sector funding to provide the benefits of the Feed-In Tariff to social landlords and their tenants giving them advantages which for many would be out of reach due to the relatively high up-front cost.
“Given the constraints on public- sector finances, it is a type of funding model we expect will be increasingly popular in the coming years.
“This was an exceptionally complex transaction to execute in any circumstance.
“However, the success of this pathfinder project, raising significant funds in what remains a difficult credit market, demonstrates the depth of experience in our Sheffield team and I’m pleased we have been able to complete the financing.”
Chris Rigg, managing director of Eaga’s clean energy business said: “I would like to thank the DLA Piper team for their dedication to this project.
“It has taken a long time and a great deal of hard work to bring to fruition and we are grateful for their contribution.
“Their willingness to go the extra mile has enabled us to deliver this financing against many challenges. We look forward to bringing the benefits of Feed-In Tariffs to a large number of social landlords and their tenants.”
The DLA Piper team was led by Jon Kenworthy, supported by Sheffield- based Nigel Howard, Roger Gough, Paul Roberts and Michael Dearden.
Eaga is being taken over by building services company Carillion for £306.5m, and has fitted more than 1,000 of the systems as it expands in the green services’ market.
