The Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF), of which Bluefield Partners are the investment manager, and GLIL Infrastructure were awarded the ‘Joint Venture Acquisition of the Year – Europe’ award at the IJInvestor awards on Thursday 28th, November.
The deal, structured in three phases, involved GLIL and BSIF forming a partnership in December 2023 to purchase a portfolio of 58 operational solar projects in the UK from Lightsource bp for £220 million ($285 million). This phase was completed in January.
The second phase began in July 2024, where GLIL acquired a 50% stake in BSIF’s 112 MW solar energy portfolio. This portfolio includes nine operational sites located in Southern and Central England and is supported by Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROC) accreditation. During this phase, the joint venture also financed the construction of 17 MW of new solar assets, which are expected to be connected to the grid within the next 12 months. The final phase of the joint venture will involve both partners investing in a selection of projects from BSIF’s development pipeline, which are anticipated to be connected to the grid in the next 2-3 years.
James Armstrong, Founder and Managing Partner of Bluefield Partners said, “The award recognises a multi-faceted partnership Bluefield Partners and GLIL that took collaboration, imagination and deep market knowledge to bring it to realisation. It is an agreement that has already created one of the leading solar vehicles currently operating in the UK. Credit to Bluefield’s and GLIL’s respective investment and commercial teams who had the vision to design such an innovative, multi-layered investment partnership.”
As noted in an article by IJ Global, one of the judges reportedly said: “A complex and multi-faceted transaction with very real complexity, combined with the successful combination of capital from entities with different investment theses, ie listed fund and a pension fund as well as demonstrating the ability to unlock institutional capital to address the UK Government’s push for investment in energy transition. Very impactful and innovative.”
Held at the world-famous Savoy hotel in London, the awards celebrated the best fund raising and deployment, as well as merger and acquisition activity in the energy and infrastructure sector, across several different categories. Lean more about IJ Global here.
