HgCapital sells wind portfolio to Munich Re

Amy King
13 August 2012

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HgCapital has sold its operating UK onshore wind portfolio to MEAG, the asset management arm of insurance group Munich Re.

The trio of wind farms was held by HgCapital Renewable Power Partners, which closed on €300m in 2006.

The sale is in line with HgCapital's strategy within the renewable energy sector, where the private equity firm aims to build power generation assets for sale to institutional investors. MEAG is looking to make further investments in renewable assets in the UK.

Previous funding
In 2004, HgCapital acquired the 21.25MW wind farm Tir Mostyn in North Wales from Windjen Power, in a transaction valued at £21.6 million. The deal included acquisition and construction costs.

In 2008, HgCapital provided equity finance to portfolio company RidgeWind to fund the £18m construction of Bagmoor Wind Farm, a 16MW project located in north Lincolnshire. RBS provided a 17-year loan facility. Following the sale of the three companies, HgCapital will retain its controlling interest in RidgeWind.

In 2010, HgCapital acquired a 50% interest in Scout Moor, a 65MW operating wind farm near Manchester.

Company
The three wind farms divested by HgCapital have a combined capacity of 102MW.

People
Rob de Laszlo and Luigi Pettinicchio led the transaction for HgCapital.

Advisers
Vendor – RBC Capital Markets (Corporate finance); Norton Rose (Legal); Deloitte (Corporate finance); Wind Prospect Group (Commercial due diligence); SgurrEnergy (Other due diligence).