Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (LON:BSIF), the London listed UK income fund focused primarily on acquiring and managing solar energy assets, is pleased to announce the completion of a refinancing as part of its management of the 359MW portfolio of solar PV assets it jointly owns with GLIL Infrastructure.
The refinancing was completed in January 2025 with a consortium of lenders and replaces c.£214 million of existing inflation-linked debt on the solar PV portfolio, with c. £297 million of fixed-rate debt at an all-in rate of 5.8%. This results in the all-in cost of debt across the Company increasing modestly to c. 3.8% (up from 3.4% in September 2024). The new debt matures in December 2035, in line with the subsidy period of the assets.
The portfolio, which is jointly owned by Bluefield Solar and GLIL, with the Company having a stake of just over 25% and GLIL owning the balance, comprises 69 solar PV projects, 183MW of which is backed by Feed in Tariff (‘FiT’) subsidies, 128MW by Renewable Obligation Certificates (‘ROCs’) and 48MW on a merchant basis.
The transaction raises c. £21 million for the Company and, taken together with the successful sale of 112MW of solar capacity as part of the strategic partnership with GLIL which completed in September 2024, results in c. £89 million of recycled capital being returned to the Company since the commencement of its partnership with GLIL in January 2024.
To date, £50.5 million of the proceeds received from the sale of 112MW of assets has been used to repay a portion of the Company’s Revolving Credit Facility (‘RCF’), with c. £10.6 million used to support the Company’s share buyback programme, c. £6.2 million invested into the construction of Mauxhall and the development pipeline, with a further c. £1.5 million invested in CapEx works on the Company’s operating portfolio.
This leaves a balance of some £40 million (including carried forward reserves of £20.3 million from FY2024) available for continuing RCF repayments, supporting progression of the Company’s pipeline of development assets or enabling future share buyback programmes following completion of the Company’s original £20 million allocation in January 2025.
Phase Three of the strategic partnership with GLIL, which involves the prospective sale by Bluefield Solar of a limited portion of its ready-to-build pipeline, is currently in progress.
Following the re-financing, the Company’s total debt outstanding is £588 million, of which the RCF balance stands at £133.5 million. The Company’s leverage remains at c. 44% of Gross Asset Value, based on the Company’s latest reported unaudited NAV as at September 2024.
The Company’s Interim Results will be released on Thursday 27 February.
John Scott, Chairman of Bluefield Solar, said: “We have worked closely with GLIL and our lenders to complete this refinancing at an attractive price, enabling further capital to be returned to the Company to support future RCF repayments and allowing the continued funding of the Company’s highly attractive development pipeline.”
