Renewable

September 8 (Renewables Now) - Blackfinch Renewable European Income Trust plc (BRET) on Tuesday released the prospectus in relation to its planned GBP-300-million (USD 413m/EUR 348m) initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange.

BRET is a new closed-end investment trust that will invest in renewable energy infrastructure assets in Europe. Its investment manager will be UK investments firm Blackfinch.

The new company intends to issue up to 300 million ordinary shares at GBP 1 apiece to raise gross proceeds of up to GBP 300 million. The offering opened today and will close on September 30, with the results to be announced on October 1. There will also be a placing programme that will enable the company to issue additional shares in the next 12 months.

Blackfinch has already said it has GBP 232 million of seed assets under option for acquisition. These include 21 construction-ready solar sites located mainly in Italy, together with two assets in the UK, totalling over 300 MWp.

BRET will focus on less crowded markets in Europe such as Portugal, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary, and will have some exposure to the UK. Initially it will target solar, wind and hydro investments but it plans a secondary focus on assets including hydrogen, storage and central district heating.

The business says that the EU's renewables goal and the structural undersupply of cleaner energy are creating a compelling market opportunity.

(GBP 1 = USD 1.377/EUR 1.161)