SUNfarming expands partnership with HANSAINVEST Real Assets to Poland

HANSAINVEST Real Assets and SUNfarming Group extend their existing cooperation by another country. Based on a framework agreement, HANSAINVEST Real Assets provides mezzanine financing of EUR 50 million for 231 Polish photovoltaic projects with a volume of approx. 257 MWp. A first tranche of EUR 12 million will be used to refinance a portfolio of 50 solar plants with 48 MWp. The funds will flow via a subordinated loan to the group company SUNfarming Polska IPP GmbH & Co. KG ("SUN IPP"), which bundles SUNfarming's operating projects under one roof and was established specifically for the partnership. Capcora acted as exclusive financial advisor to SUNfarming in the transaction. Financial close took place at the end of December 2022.

The mezzanine financing was issued in euros and has a tenor of 20 years. As the projects will be remunerated in Polish zloty, an adequate currency hedge was the focus of the structuring. Together with specialists, a robust solution was devised that enabled the asset manager HANSAINVEST Real Assets to finance the transaction with a low-risk premium despite the currency mismatch in the cash flow profile.

SUNfarming, the owner-managed company based in Erkner near Berlin, will use the financial resources for the development of further solar parks. Besides its home market Germany, Poland is the largest market for SUNfarming. The company is also one of the pioneers in the Polish market, which in 2022 set a new installation record of around five gigawatts and was the largest photovoltaic market in Europe behind Germany and Spain.

"We are pleased to be making our debut in the Polish renewable energy market with an existing partner who has also been active in the Polish market for years and already has a significant track record. We are convinced that Poland offers tremendous growth opportunities for us. The contract for difference system also provides inflation protection on the electricity revenues, which gives our investment further security," said Christoph Lüken, Head of Portfolio Management Infrastructure at HANSAINVEST Real Assets.

"We are expanding our successful partnership with HANSAINVEST Real Assets. Poland is our second main market, and we are grateful for the trust in our work, which is underlined by the extension of the partnership. 2022 has shown the potential that lies dormant in in Poland, and we are happy to take our partners with us on this journey," said Martin Tauschke, Managing Director of SUNfarming Group and SUN IPP.

"The transaction represents one of a small number of mezzanine financings in the still young but growing solar market. Euro financings present challenges to the industry due to a lack of cross currency swap liquidity in the long term. We are pleased to have been able to contribute to this complex transaction, having already assisted SUNfarming in structuring the interim construction financing and bank refinancing," explains Bernhard Hofmann, Director in Capcora's Energy and Infrastructure division.

HANSAINVEST Real Assets was supported in this transaction by Dentons, Baker Tilly and renerco plan consult. On the side of SUNfarming Group, Bird&Bird and Rödl&Partner acted as legal advisors and Capcora as exclusively mandated financial advisor.

About SUNfarming
Since the company was founded in 2004, SUNfarming GmbH has covered the entire project development and EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) value chain: starting with planning, development and financing, through construction to monitoring and maintenance of solar parks and related concepts such as agro-photovoltaics (Food & Energy). The company has a long-standing customer structure of capital investors, municipalities, users of commercial and private own power plants as well as sister companies of SUNfarming Group AG investing in solar plants. The international team of experienced businessmen, engineers and technicians has already successfully realized a plant output of more than approx. 650 MWp. For more than 350 MWp in Germany and abroad SUNfarming takes over the technical management.
www.sunfarming.de

About HANSAINVEST Real Assets
HANSAINVEST Real Assets GmbH stands for many years of experience and sustainable investments in the real estate and infrastructure sector. In total, more than 100 employees manage assets worth more than EUR 7 billion.

In the real estate sector, the internationally positioned experts manage office, retail, hotel, logistics and residential properties in 24 countries. In addition to portfolio management, the company covers the areas of acquisitions and sales as well as asset management and project development.

The company's second pillar comprises an international portfolio of renewable energy and other infrastructure assets. In total, the in-house team of specialists manages a volume of EUR 1.9 billion in the form of individually structured direct investments, fund investments and mezzanine financing. The range of services extends from project development through transactions and financing to investment solutions.
www.hansainvest-real.de

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. In addition, Capcora acts as transaction manager for M&A processes (buy and sell side advisory).
www.capcora.com