EFG Hermes, a leading financial services corporation in the Middle East and and North Africa (Mena) region, has announced that Vortex, the European renewable energy platform managed by its private equity division, has reached an agreement with US renewable energy leader TerraForm Power to acquire a 365 MW portfolio of 24 operational solar assets in the UK.

The landmark transaction marks Vortex’s first investment in the solar energy sector and increases its total net operational capacity to 822 MW, said a statement from the Egyptian group.

Vortex had signed the £470 million ($605 million) transaction (enterprise value) in January. The equity share capital of the transaction was funded through a 50 per cent subscription from Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), one of the largest utility players in Asia with a market capitalisation of $18 billion and a power generation capacity of 13 GW.

The remaining 50 per cent of the equity ticket was underwritten by EFG Hermes consistent with the merchant banking model that it announced last year.

Accordingly, Vortex plans to sell down 45 per cent of the equity share capital of the transaction in the near future, retaining a 5 per cent stake in line with its previous transaction structures. Vortex is also in the process of refinancing the portfolio’s existing debt facilities.

"In well under four years, Vortex evolved rapidly to become one of the largest renewable energy-focused investment vehicles in Europe with a wide range of solar and wind assets spreading across six countries in Europe, generating more than 1,500 GWh of renewable energy which is enough to power more than 350,000 households each year,” remarked Karim Moussa, the head of asset management and private equity at EFG Hermes.

"Vortex’s success to date underpins our transformation from being a manager of investments across Mena to being an investment manager that caters to our client’s specific needs in our region and beyond," stated Moussa.

According to him, Vortex will continue to target wind and solar acquisitions in Europe with a target of owning a total of more than 2 GW in generation capacity within three years.

Since its launch in late 2014, Vortex has successfully invested more than €1.3 billion ($1.42 billion) in the European renewables market. The UK solar portfolio joins an existing 457 MW (net) portfolio of operating onshore wind assets operated by EDP Renováveis SA across four Western European countries.-TradeArabia News Service