Downing Renewables and Infrastructure has acquired a Swedish Electricity Distribution System Operator, Blåsjön Nät AB for about £7m.
The deal involves the purchase of 100% of the share capital in Blåsjön, a regulated electricity distributor, which delivers 16-18 GWh per annum of electricity through medium and low voltage lines to its 1,547 domestic and business customers in Strömsund, northern Sweden.
This is the fund’s second acquisition in the grid and grid stability services sector. The announcement says that it further supports the company’s strategy of constructing a diversified portfolio designed to increase the stability of revenues and consistency of income to shareholders.
Funding for the deal comes from the company’s revolving credit facility, under which drawings and commitments are now about £18m.
Blåsjön’s grid network is 436km in length and comprises overhead lines, three primary and 161 secondary substations. Blåsjön operates a licensed monopoly in a highly regulated environment, generating consistent and predictable cashflows that are correlated to Swedish inflation and interest rates.
Downing Renewables says that grid networks like this are operating businesses with very long-life assets that are expected to operate and generate substantial yields for generations.
DORE : Downing Renewables buys Swedish electricity distributor