Abrdn’s latest European mid-market core infrastructure fund ASCI III arm has partnered with Italian renewable gas specialist Blu-H Energy (BHE) to acquire operational biogas assets in Italy.
The newly created partnership has so far acquired two biogas facilities and has plans to make further acquisitions in the near term.
Abrdn said the partnership’s strategy includes acquiring operational biogas assets, with a view to upgrading the facilities to enable the production of biomethane.
The deal marks the third investment by Abrdn’s third core infrastructure fund ASCI III, which is currently fundraising and investing in the pan-European infrastructure mid-market. ASCI III, an Article 8 fund, under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, is seeking to raise €1bn.
Dominic Helmsley, the head of Abrdn core infrastructure, said: “We are thrilled to announce the third transaction from our third infrastructure fund, ASCI III, and our first investment in Italy. We are committed to supporting the renewable energy sector and we are delighted to partner with BHE to contribute towards Italy’s energy transition.”
William Cunneen, investment director for Abrdn’s core infrastructure business, said: “The biomethane sector is expected to see significant growth over coming years, and we believe Italy is one of the most attractive markets within Europe in this space. BHE has a wealth of origination and asset management expertise and we look forward to working together to build a biomethane platform within Italy.”
Franco Ferrario, CEO at Blu-H Energy, said: “Our ambition is to become a leading Italian biomethane producer, and together with Abrdn, we will be able to make this a reality. We thank abrdn for firmly believing in BLU-H, and to the teams on both sides for working endlessly over the past few months to make this possible.”
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