M&A UPDATE- EFG Hermes unit in GBP 470 mn solar acquisition in United Kingdom. Vortex, EFG Hermes’ European renewable energy platform, has inked a sale and purchase agreement to acquire 24 solar parks from TerraForm power with a combined 365 MW in generation capacity. “This landmark acquisition caps a two-year period in which our private equity team has built Vortex from a newcomer into a platform managing 822 MW in net capacity across the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Belgium and Portugal, making it one of the largest renewable energy focused investment managers in Europe,” said EFG Hermes Group Chief Executive Officer Karim Awad. The transaction will see Vortex assume about GBP 300 mn in debt that it will look to refinance.

A company statement (pdf) notes that 50% of the equity value of the transaction will be covered by an investment from leading Asian renewable player Tenga Nasional Berhad out of Malaysia, with “the remaining 50% initially underwritten by EFG Hermes with a final targeted hold of 5% of the equity, consistent with the previous transactions undertaken by Vortex.” Vortex’s advisors on the transaction included Watson Farley and Williams, Davis Polk, and Shearman & Sterling (legal), Deloitte (financial, tax and accounting), Enertis (technical), Willis (insurance), Baringa (market), Operis (model audit) and Global Capital Finance (financial advisor). The transaction is getting wide pickup in the financial and renewable industry press.