Solarpack completes the acquisition of Tacna Solar and Panamericana Solar in Peru

Solarpack Corporación Tecnológica, SA has closed the acquisition of 90.5% of the solar photovoltaic projects Tacna Solar and Panamericana Solar with TAWA SOLAR FUND LP and the rest of the projects’ shareholders, for US$51.5 million. The company has become the owner of 100% of the projects, since prior to the transaction it had 9.5% of the shares of the special purpose vehicles owning the assets: Tacna Solar SAC and Panamericana Solar SAC.

The projects, which were developed and built by Solarpack in 2012 in association with X-ELIO, are located in southern Peru and have a total combined installed capacity of 43 MW. Both projects have a long-term power purchase agreement in place with the Peruvian Ministry of Energy, as a result of the first renewable energy resources tender held in Peru in 2010, and have more than 13 years of remaining contractual life under their respective PPAs. The projects have a long-term non-recourse project financing granted by Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), had a net financial debt of US$113 million as of February 28, 2019 and booked a joint EBITDA of US$21 million in 2018.

In order to partly finance the acquisition of the projects, Solarpack has disbursed a bridge loan granted by Banco Santander for US$30 million. For the amortization of the bridge loan, the company contemplates several options that may involve the entry of a minority partner in the Projects or, alternatively, maintaining full ownership of the assets.