DIF, an independent infrastructure fund manager, has signed and closed the sale of a 100 percent stake in a portfolio of four Canadian solar plants to Ullico’s infrastructure investment business through its fund, DIF Infrastructure III.
The portfolio comprises four Canadian solar plants: CSI Glenarm, Goldlight, Illumination and Stone Mills Solar Park.
The portfolio plants achieved commercial operations between 2012 and 2015. Glenarm, Goldlight and Illumination were acquired at the start of construction, while Stone Mills was acquired two years after the start of operation.
The sale of the portfolio was “optimized by acquiring individual projects, bringing them through construction, completing two refinancings in 2015 and 2017, recontracting and the exit via a competitive portfolio sales process,” said Paul Huebener, partner and head of Americas.
Andrew Freeman, head of exits added, “This is our first exit in North America. DIF will continue its successful strategy of proactively selling assets from its more mature funds, thereby taking advantage of strong demand for high-quality infrastructure projects.”
DIF was advised by Raymond James (finance) and Osler (legal).
DIF invests in greenfield and brownfield infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, North America and Australasia through two complementary strategies, which include DIF Infrastructure V and DIF Core Infrastructure Fund I. DIF Infrastructure V targets equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, regulated assets and renewable energy projects, while DIF Core Infrastructure Fund I targets equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the energy, transportation and telecom sectors.
In other recent transactions, DIF signed and closed the sale of a 100 percent stake in the Islip and Springhill solar plants to Greencoat Solar Assets II Limited in August. Islip and Springhill are two 5-megawatt solar plants located in the United Kingdom. Both plants have been operational since 2011 and were acquired by DIF in 2013.
