Linklaters advised the lenders on BlackRock Real Assets’ NT$9.406bn (approximately US$328m) refinancing of a portfolio of 186MW of solar assets in Taiwan with an 18-year green loan facility.
The portfolio, owned by BlackRock Real Assets’ Global Renewable Power Fund II, aggregates 42 projects held by a number of operating companies, spanning ground-mounted, floating and rooftop solar assets across Taiwan, which BlackRock Real Assets and Taiwan-based New Green Power have taken through from construction to operations.
The green loan facility adopts the Green Loan Framework, which is in line with the Green Loan Principles (2011). The financing also included a number of other innovative features for the Taiwan market, including the use of a non-recourse holding company borrowing structure and the reliance by lenders on a debt service reserve facility.
The lenders comprised two Taiwanese banks, Bank Sinopac and E.Sun Commercial Bank, and five international banks, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.
The Linklaters team was led by energy & infrastructure partner James McLaren and partner elect Ying Fu, supported by associates Suzy Su and Derek Loh. Support was also provided by Linklaters’ construction and capital markets teams.
Partner and Asia Head of Green Energy Practice James McLaren, commented:
“We are delighted to have supported BlackRock and its lenders on this important transaction. It is excellent, but not surprising, to see such strong support for an innovative portfolio financing of this nature. We expect to see this model further deployed in Taiwan and elsewhere in the region in support of the ongoing development and optimisation of investments into the renewables sector. We congratulate all participants involved.”
