Transaction: Obton Takes Up Mezzanine Financing for PV Portfolio in France

Frankfurt, Germany - The Danish asset manager Obton A/S has secured subordinated financing of EUR 8 million (mn) for an extensive PV portfolio in France. The PV assets are owned by funds under management.

The mezzanine financing with a tenor of 15 years was granted by a UK based infrastructure debt fund. Obton has been advised by Germany based consulting firm Capcora who acted as sole financial advisor in this deal. Besides Capcora, Obton was advised by Herbert Smith Freehills Paris LLP (legal), WPO SAS (technical) and Ernst & Young LLP (model audit).

Obton raised junior debt for one of its solar PV participations in France. The financing with a maturity date in 2035 was structured in a bond format. The underlying is a diversified portfolio of 18 PV projects with total capacity of 30.4 MWp spread across France – the assets are mainly carport systems for parking lots on industrial sites, train stations or airports. Obton entered the French market in 2013. The assets financed have an average age structure of 5 years and a remaining feed-in-tariff (“FIT”) term of 15 years.

For Capcora, this is the first PV transaction in France, which is also a unique transaction due to the complexity in terms of types of assets, diversification and cross-border coordination, says Alexander Kuhn, Managing Partner at Capcora.

Source: IWR Online, 09 Jun 2020