Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) Paris advised a syndicate of French banks on the €56m refinancing, arranged by BRED Banque Populaire and Bpifrance, of 30% of a solar portfolio operated by SUN’R.
The transaction enabled the refinancing of 61 roof-mounted solar installations located in France with a total output capacity of 10.5 MW as well as the primary funding for two new installations which had previously been financed by means of equity. WFW advised BRED Banque Populaire, Bpifrance and Caisse d’Epargne Grand Est Europe on the initial financing of this solar portfolio in 2014 and early 2015 which Crédit du Nord later joined at the refinancing stage.
The SUN’R group is a long-standing player in the solar sector in France and fully committed to speeding up the nation’s transition to renewable energy sources. Both a developer and producer of renewable solar electricity since 2007, SUN’R produces 30 MWc of clean electricity and, according to the President of SUN’R, is due to commission an extra 40 MWc next year with an additional portfolio of almost 200 MWc also under development.
The WFW Paris Finance team advising the banks was led by Partner Laurence Martinez Bellet, assisted by Senior Associate Sébastien Hoff and Associates Yassine Allam and Léna Le Falher, and supported by Tax Partner Romain Girtanner.
Laurence Martinez Bellet commented: “We are very happy to have been able to contribute along with the lenders to the successful completion of this key step in SUN’R’s development strategy through a tailor-made refinancing agreement that also ensured continuity with the original 2014/15 financing”.
