Schroders Greencoat has announced a £700m deal to acquire the largest operational solar portfolio traded in the UK.

Toucan Energy’s solar portfolio, consisting of 53 operating UK solar farms, will be majority acquired by private markets funds managed by Schroders Greencoat, the specialist renewables manager of Schroders Capital.

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 is the largest operational solar portfolio transacted in the UK to date.

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

Partner at Schroders Greencoat, Lee Moscovitch, said: “We are thrilled to have agreed to acquire the largest operational solar portfolio put to market in the UK. This is a major achievement for Schroders Greencoat, particularly given the size, complexity and number of stakeholders involved in the transaction.

“We will aim to deliver reliable returns for our investors via these assets, as they continue to provide a substantial contribution to the UK’s net-zero strategy.”

The majority of the Toucan Energy 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, which are Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire Funds via Schroders Greencoat Wessex Gardens LP, a locally-focused renewable energy infrastructure fund established last year.

Tokyo Century is also acting as a co-investor in the acquisition.

Managing director at Interpath Advisory and joint administrator of Toucan Energy Holdings 1 Limited, Jim Tucker, added: “This was a highly competitive sales process, requiring substantial preparation, due in no small part to the fact that assets of this scale and quality rarely come to market. We look forward to the transaction completing in the coming weeks.”

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