LONDON, United Kingdom
enfinium today announced the completion of a £1.9 billion refinancing of the enfinium operating portfolio comprising of four state-of-the-art, R1[1] accredited waste-to-energy facilities – Ferrybridge 1 and 2 in Yorkshire, Kemsley in Kent and Parc Adfer in North Wales.
The refinancing was executed by way of two (10-year and 26-year term) debt tranches under a flexible financing platform which enfinium has put in place to provide long-term financing for its operational business. A wide range of leading U.K., European and US bank and institutional investors participated in the refinancing.
The financing platform’s term debt maintains a green label issued under the Green Financing Framework put in place by enfinium in July 2021. Issuing Green Finance instruments allows enfinium to align its funding strategy with its values and goal of creating a cleaner world.
“The successful execution of the refinancing illustrates the clear recognition that waste-to-energy is integral to the circular economy, supports the U.K. government’s net zero carbon emissions target and provides several environmental benefits” said Julia Watsford, Chief Executive Officer“. The long-term debt platform sets the business up for success to continue to deliver on our vision of making a difference today to deliver a cleaner tomorrow”.
The refinancing follows the acquisition of Wheelabrator U.K. and Multifuel Energy Limited earlier in the year by First Sentier Investors, which have since been integrated into a single operating group, rebranded as enfinium on the 3rd June 2021. enfinium’s two construction projects, Skelton Grange in Yorkshire and Kelvin in the West Midlands, that achieved financial close this year are expected to migrate into the refinancing platform, once operational in 2025.
“The refinancing terms reflect enfinium’s strong track record of operating performance, as well as the attractive market dynamics for waste-to-energy in the U.K. The refinancing platform will enable enfinium to fund growth and deliver on its ambitions to drive the energy transition” said Hamish Lea-Wilson, Partner, First Sentier Investors.
enfinium was advised on the refinancing by Jefferies (financial), Santander (financial), Latham & Watkins (legal) and PMC (hedging) and the lenders were advised by Weil (legal).
[1] The R1 factor is a performance indicator for the level of energy recovery from waste. It is determined as the ratio of the energy produced from the process over the energy contained in the waste corrected as necessary for external process inputs, such as additional fuel or heat lost to residues. Where the value of R1 is greater than 0.65 over the duration of a year, the process can be classed as a recovery operation.
ENDS
For more information about enfinium, please contact Philip Curds by calling +44 (0)7990 031729 or emailing philip.curds@enfinium.co.uk.
enfinium is the largest pure play waste-to-energy business in the U.K. and is an industry leader in the conversion of non-recyclable residential and business waste into heat and partially renewable power. enfinium currently has a platform of seven (two in construction and one under advanced development) strategically located facilities across the U.K. Today, enfinium has an annual waste processing capacity of over 2.3 million tonnes, and a total combined electric generating capacity of 247MW (gross) — enough energy to power more than 500,000 U.K. homes. The vision “Make a difference today to deliver a cleaner tomorrow” speaks to the company’s ongoing commitment to the development of clean and renewable energy solutions for its customers and local communities. For more on enfinium, please visit www.enfinium.co.uk.
First Sentier Investors are stewards of over €130 billion in assets managed on behalf of a client base that extends across Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America. With more than twenty years’ experience in infrastructure investment, it is one of the longest established managers of infrastructure assets on behalf of institutional investors and currently manages approximately €12.0 billion of equity invested across assets in the utility, transport and energy infrastructure sectors in Europe, Australia and North America. FSI operates as a standalone business owned by the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.
