European solar investor NextEnergy Capital (NEC) has sold a 150MW portfolio of Italian solar assets to Rome-headquartered investment group Tages.
The portfolio, which comprises 105 solar projects with a combined capacity of around 149MW, includes assets located in Italian regions such as Lombardy, Tuscany, Sardinia, Calabria and others.
The portfolio was held by NEC fund NextPower II, which was launched in 2016 with the aim of consolidating what has become a fragmented market of operational solar assets in Italy. NEC said it undertook 21 separate acquisitions to assemble the portfolio and, at the time of its sale, NextPower II was among the ten largest PV portfolios in the country.
Reports first emerged of NEC looking to sell Italian solar assets in November last year, when Reuters suggested the portfolio was for sale and that the investor was looking to receive more than €400 million (US$453 million) for it.
Neither NEC or Tages disclosed the financial terms of the deal, however Tages stressed the acquisition has consolidated its position as Italy’s second largest operator of PV projects with around 536MW under ownership.
Furthermore, Umberto Quadrino, head of investments at Tages Capital, said the company had a pipeline of further transactions for its Helios II fund which are due to complete in the coming months.
Michael Bonte-Friedheim, CEO and founding partner of NEC, said the company was “particularly pleased with the exceptional financial results we have generated for the Fund’s investors”.