Macquarie’s infrastructure debt platform has made its first solar investment in Spain with the provision of a loan to refinance a portfolio of assets.
Macquarie Infrastructure Debt Investment Solutions (MIDIS) said it contributed the largest amount to the €140m fundraising by Sonnedix which attracted interest from both European and US investors.
The facility, provided by MIDIS on behalf of its investors, consists of fixed rate, senior secured bonds on a 19-year amortising basis, it said.
The portfolio, owned by the country’s largest solar PV platform Sonnedix, consists of 12 fully operational solar projects located across Spain. It is managed by Qualitas Energy.
Tom van Rijsewijk, a division director for MIDIS, said: “The €140m fundraising by Sonnedix attracted strong interest from both European and US investors – MIDIS being the largest participant among them.
“The transaction is our first solar investment in Spain, as we waited for the right opportunity for our investors. In recent years there has been some uncertainty in the market, but with reformed regulatory support bringing it on a stable footing going forward, we see opportunities for further investments in this jurisdiction.”
A portion of MIDIS’ financing was provided by a pooled fund, Macquarie Global Infrastructure Debt Fund (MGIDF). MGIDF completed its third close in April with commitments raised to date of €409m.
Since 2012, MIDIS has invested over €1.6bn in infrastructure debt in renewable project transactions globally. These funds have been invested across 34 separate projects, with total installed capacity of around 4,433GW.
