Obton secures subordinated debt facility for 30.4 MWp PV Portfolio in France

Denmark based Obton A/S ("Obton") secured a mezzanine-type HoldCo debt facility in an amount of 8 million Euros for PV assets owned by funds under management. The facility with a tenor of 15 years was granted by a UK based infrastructure debt fund. Obton has been advised by Germany based consulting firm Capcora who acted as sole financial advisor in this deal.

Obton raised junior debt for one of its solar PV participations in France. The financing with a maturity date in 2035 was structured in a bond format. The underlying is a diversified portfolio of 18 PV projects with total capacity of 30.4 MWp spread across France - the assets are mainly carport systems for parking lots on industrial sites, train stations or airports. Obton entered the French market in 2013. The assets financed have an average age structure of 5 years and a remaining feed-in-tariff ("FIT") term of 15 years.

Given the traceable production history, the granularity of the portfolio and the low volatility of PV assets in general the financing structure benefits from a high cashflow visibility. The bond provides a balanced risk-return profile for the mezzanine lender and will be fully amortised over the bond term.

"It is our mission to improve the returns of our investors by continuously scouting for new ways to optimize our portfolios. Mezzanine debt is an extremely interesting instrument for us, which we were able to access thanks to Capcora!", says Andreas Duckert, Chief Finance Officer at Obton.

"We are proud to have advised Obton on its debut transaction in the mezzanine segment. At the same time this deal represents our first PV transaction in France. The complexity in terms of types of assets, diversification and cross-border coordination makes it a unique transaction.", says Alexander Kuhn, Managing Partner at Capcora

Besides Capcora Obton was advised by Herbert Smith Freehills Paris LLP (Legal), WPO SAS (Technical) and Ernst & Young LLP (model audit).

About Obton:
Obton is an investment and management company specialised in renewable projects. Obton represents retail investors and manages a rapid growing PV-portfolio of more than 872 MW with an asset value of EUR 1.8 billion. The plants are primarily located in France, Italy, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
www.obton.com

About Capcora:
Capcora is a consulting firm, specialized on real assets. Capcora procures equity, mezzanine and debt financing for energy and infrastructure projects, real estate, and medium sized companies. The focus is especially on mezzanine financing for the recapitalization of tied-up liquidity in operating assets as well as for bridge financing of developments and construction measures in the area of renewable energies (photovoltaics, onshore wind) and real estate through alternative financing sources. www.capcora.com