GoldenPeaks Capital (GPC), an independent renewable energy power producer, closed financing for 64.5 MW solar projects located in northeast Hungary. Erste Group and Erste Bank Hungary provided the senior financing. The junior financing package was backed by a fund managed by Schelcher Prince Gestion(“SPG”), a French asset manager. Capcora served as the financial advisor to GPC on securing the mezzanine financing.
The portfolio comprises two solar projects and are currently under construction. The projects are expected to enter into long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).
The senior loan (whose financing was split evenly between Erste Group and Erste Bank Hungary) was secured at the SPV level. The junior financing was obtained structurally subordinated at the HoldCo level.
Dentons acted as the legal advisor to GPC, while Erste Bank worked with CMS and SPG with DLA Piper and Ganado Advocates. DNV provided technical advice to the lenders.
Daniel Tain, President of GPC said, “We’re delighted to have secured both senior and junior facilities for our projects in Hungary marking another milestone in our history. Concurrently, we’re welcoming two new strategic lenders to our network, crucial for our mission to be a leading Independent Power Producer (“IPP”) in the Central Eastern European (“CEE”) market.”
“We are pleased to help engineering a tailor-made and unique financing scheme for GPC. This transaction combines both upsizing and downsizing elements and addresses the need to combine merchant and PPA financing schemes in one transaction,” said Bernhard Hofman Director at Capcora.
According to Mercom’s Q1 2024 Solar Funding and M&A report, large-scale project funding announced in Q1 2024 came to $13 billion in 62 deals, a decrease of 24% QoQ compared to $17.1 billion in 60 deals in Q4 2023.
Sol Systems, a solar finance and development company, secured $85 million in debt financing from Macquarie Asset Management, a global asset manager for the construction and development of five utility-scale solar projects in Illinois and Ohio.
