Quercus Real Assets, a European company specialised in energy assets, and Elionia, a renewable energy investment vehicle of a European family office linked to the maritime sector, have closed a €76 mn ($83.3 mn) financing for three biomethane projects in Italy. The transaction was carried out through their joint venture QGM, with the support of a banking syndicate composed of BNL BNP Paribas, Banco BPM and Mediocredito Centrale. Half of the facility is guaranteed by SACE, an organisation controlled by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance.
A project structured around three sites
The three production units will be located in the north of the country and built over a ten-month period. They will operate using agricultural by-products and manure, providing a diversified feedstock for energy generation. This deployment represents the first phase of a portfolio of more than twenty similar projects planned for the same region.
Financing led by a banking pool
BNL BNP Paribas is acting as Mandated Lead Arranger, Agent Bank and SACE Agent. Banco BPM and Mediocredito Centrale complete the lending syndicate. The sponsors were advised by Legance on legal matters, Fichtner on technical aspects and Rothschild & Co. on the financial side. The banks appointed Ashurst as legal advisor.
Background and sector outlook
Executives Diego Biasi for Quercus and Danilo Fumarola for Elionia recalled having already worked together in 2013 in London on the development of an anaerobic digestion unit in partnership with the Green Investment Bank. They indicated that the market could see an increased combination of electricity production and biofuels, with a growing role for biomethane.
