Green Giraffe advised Neoen, a leading French renewable energy producer, on raising a mezzanine debt financing for a 100 MW portfolio of primarily French renewable onshore wind and solar PV projects. The EUR 40 M financing closed on 30 October 2015 and was validated as a “Green Bond” following ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) due diligence by Vigeo, a recognised sustainability expert. The bondholders are M&G Investments, a leading international asset manager, and Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund, a Guernsey domiciled, closed-ended fund listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Key highlights and achievements: this bond (i) has an attractive tenor of 18 years, (ii) is provided at a holding company level with limited recourse to Neoen SAS and is subordinated to senior debt in place at the individual project level, and (iii) competitive overall cost of capital for the projects.
