Herbert Smith Freehills advises Interpath Advisory on the sale of Toucan Energy’s solar portfolio to Schroders Greencoat for circa £700 million

With a combined capacity of 513.5 MWp across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and powering the equivalent of approximately 184,000 homes, the portfolio, which consists of 53 operating solar farms in the UK, is the largest operational solar portfolio transacted in the UK to date.

Schroders Greencoat, the specialist renewables manager of Schroders Capital, is the largest manager of operating solar farms in the UK with 1.35 GWp of solar assets already under management.

The majority of the portfolio will be acquired by long-standing Schroders Greencoat managed funds, including Greencoat Solar II LP and Greencoat Renewable Income LP, as well as recently launched mandates. A significant portion is being acquired by six Local Government Pension Schemes: Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire Funds via Schroders Greencoat Wessex Gardens LP, a place-based and locally-focused renewable energy infrastructure fund established last year. Tokyo Century is acting as a co-investor in the acquisition.

The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by Corporate partner Sarah Pollock and Restructuring partner John Chetwood, supported by, amongst others, senior associate James Rea-Palmer, and associates Polina Barnard, Linda Nguyen, Kate Watson and Wilson Lu. The team worked closely with partners Julian Pollock, and Catherine Howard, of counsel, Kathryn Oie, senior associate Alistair Paul and associate Haleema Ishaq in Real Estate, partner Nick Wright and associate Sian Greenley in Employment, partner Will Arrenberg and senior James Tryfonos in Tax, partner Veronica Roberts and senior associate Ali MacGregor in Competition, Frank Thompson, consultant in Insurance and partner Andrew Cooke, senior associate Philip Lis and associate Ella McDonnell in Disputes.

Sarah Pollock commented, "We are delighted to have advised Interpath Advisory on this landmark transaction with Schroders Greencoat. The sale illustrates our extensive expertise advising on renewable energy deals and projects, which will in turn support the transition to clean energy.”

John Chetwood commented "We pride ourselves on our long history as a firm in assisting administrators deliver value for stakeholders through innovative M&A.  We look forward to the transaction closing."