Solarpack acquires Tacna Solar and Panamericana solar power plants in Peru
Solarpack Corporación Tecnológica, SA announced the signing of a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of 90.5% of the solar photovoltaic projects Tacna Solar and Panamericana Solar with Tawa Solar Fund LP and the rest of the Projects’ shareholders, for US$ 51.5 million.
The closing of the acquisition is expected to materialize in the next 4 months, once the usual procedures for this type of transaction are completed. After the closing, the Company will become the owner of 100% of the Projects, since prior to the transaction it had 9.5% of the shares of the special purpose vehicles (“SPVs”) owning the assets: Tacna Solar SAC and Panamericana Solar SAC.
The Projects, which were developed and built by Solarpack in 2012 in association with Gestamp Asetym Solar (now X-ELIO), are located in southern Peru and have a total combined installed capacity of 43 MW. Both Projects have a long-term power purchase agreement (“PPA”) in US$ in place with the Peruvian Ministry of Energy, as a result of the first renewable energy resources (“RER”) tender held in Peru in 2010, and have more than 13.5 years of remaining contractual life under their respective PPAs.The Projects have a long-term non-recourse project financing granted by Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), had a net financial debt of US$ 113 million as of February 28, 2019 and booked a joint EBITDA of US$ 21 million in 2018.
In order to partly finance the acquisition of the Projects, Solarpack has signed a bridge loan with a financial entity for US$ 30 million that will be disbursed once the acquisition materializes. For the amortization of the bridge loan, the Company contemplates several options that may involve the entry of a minority partner in the Projects or, alternatively, maintaining full ownership of the assets.
The transaction is part of Solarpack’s strategy to selectively acquire operating assets that offer attractive returns and clear value creation opportunities from operational or other types of synergies. With this acquisition, the Company accelerates the original growth plan with which it went public in December 2018.
Source: Press Release by Solarpack Corporación Tecnológica. Photo credit: Tacna Solar Plant. © Solarpack.
