BDO UK, together with its French and German counterparts, supported Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust plc (ORIT) on its acquisition and subsequent €125.7m refinancing of a portfolio of 14 fully operational French solar PV assets with a total installed capacity of 119.5 MW. BDO provided financial and tax due diligence and SPA review services in respect of the initial acquisition, and tax structuring advice and advice concerning the tax assumptions to be included in the financial model in respect of the subsequent refinancing.
The acquisition involved the purchase of the entire issued share capital of 14 companies for cash consideration of €58.9 million, whilst the refinancing involved the replacement of the existing €99m of project finance within the acquired entities with a new €125.7m debt facility provided by Allied Irish Banks p.l.c., Société Générale and La Banque Postale. The refinancing completed on 26 January 2021, almost exactly a year after work commenced on the share acquisition, which ultimately completed in July 2020.
The BDO UK team was led by Hira Sharma, Tax Partner, and included Rob Williams (Tax Director), Lynn Yu (Tax Manager) and Josh Dover (Tax Associate). The UK team was supported by colleagues in Paris, Versailles and Dϋsseldorf.
"Following on from our original work supporting Octopus Investments with the IPO of ORIT and its establishment as an investment trust, we were delighted to again support ORIT on these important projects. The 14 assets produce electricity to power the equivalent of 48,000 French households annually and continue to demonstrate ORIT’s leading role in the move towards renewable energy."
Rob Williams, Tax Director, BDO