Burges Salmon’s Energy and Infrastructure Finance team has advised Investec Bank on the senior secured term loan facilities made available to Privilege Finance for the purpose of financing its onward lending to a portfolio of anaerobic digestion (AD) assets in the UK.
Launched in 2001, Privilege Finance provides specialist funding and project finance to the UK renewable energy sector. The AD sector plays a significant role in the wider decarbonisation of the UK’s energy supply chain, both as part of the government’s Net Zero obligations and its post-COVID Green Recovery commitments. To-date, Privilege Finance has deployed more than £500 million to finance the construction of 40 AD facilities, generating a combination of renewable electricity, heat, and biomethane and producing more than 3.5 GW of energy per day.
Investec has made available an initial £32 million to finance Privilege’s financing of three separate AD projects, with the facilities capable of being increased to £90 million. The funding from Investec means that Privilege Finance will be able to refinance operational projects onto commercially favourable terms after the initial project finance phase, and Privilege Finance will be able to redeploy funds to invest in additional renewable energy or carbon reduction projects.
Burges Salmon partners Graham Soar (Banking and Finance) and Nick Churchward (Projects) led the cross-firm, multi-jurisdictional team that advised on the transaction. They were supported by a range of energy and infrastructure sector specialists from the firm’s Banking and Finance, Corporate, Real Estate, Tax and Construction teams including Alison Logan, Stephen Lavington, Lachlan Doyle, Luke Addison, Euan Bremner, Jonathan Eves, Ian Carnochan, Christopher Herford, Craig Bruce, Isaac Paine, Claire Batty, Rebecca Rose, and Alexander Wilson.
Stefan Rattensperger, a senior director in Investec’s Power and Infrastructure Finance team, comments: “Supporting our clients in the AD sector is of strategic importance to our business and this partnership provides both a continued vote of confidence in financing bioenergy projects and highlights the importance of AD in the transition towards Net Zero. We are grateful to Graham, Nick and the entire Burges Salmon team for their expert advice and excellent service which enabled us to see this important energy sector deal through to completion.”
Graham Soar concludes: “We are pleased to have advised Investec Bank on its long-term partnership with Privilege Finance, and play our part in this exciting and important deal for the AD sector that will see their shared vision contribute further towards the UK’s decarbonisation and Net Zero targets.”