Bahrain-based First Islamic Investment Bank has acquired a stake in a portfolio of wind farms in the United Kingdom with a total transaction value of over 400 million British pounds ($733 million).
First Islamic and its co-investors, RWE Innogy, a leading integrated UK energy business, and another private equity investor, will each hold a 33.3 percent interest in the portfolio through Zephyr Investments Limited.
The Zephyr portfolio will consist of substantially all the wind farms that are presently owned by RWE Innogy, together with those that will be constructed by RWE Innogy over the next three years. The completed portfolio is expected to comprise approximately 20 wind farms with over 430 MW capacity and is expected to become the largest wind farm portfolio in the United Kingdom.
A £300 million non-recourse financing has been raised to facilitate the transaction, underwritten by seven international banks. RWE Innogy's wind energy subsidiary, National Wind Power, will manage the portfolio of wind farms and develop and construct new wind farms for the portfolio. RWE Innogy's trading subsidiary, npower, will purchase the electricity output of the portfolio under long term contracts as part of its strategy to meet the UK Government's renewable energy obligation targets.
Headquartered in Bahrain with offices in Atlanta and London, First Islamic's three principal lines of business are: corporate investment, real estate and asset-based investment. To date, the Bank has completed 26 transactions with a total value in excess of $4.5 billion and has an equity capital base in excess of $300 million. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
