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26 June 2023
US SOLAR FUND PLC (USF, the "Company")
MS2 SALE - FINANCIAL CLOSE
US Solar Fund plc (LON: USF (USD)/USFP (GBP)) is pleased to announce that it has reached financial close on the sale of USF's 50% interest in the 200MWDC Mount Signal 2 (MS2) asset to a subsidiary of MN8 Energy LLC, a renewable energy business formerly known as Goldman Sachs Renewable Power LLC (MN8). This follows the January 2023 exercise of the purchase option granted to MN8 in 2022 (Option) and the signing of a binding sale agreement in April 2023.
MN8 has acquired USF's 50% interest in MS2 for US$52.2 million excluding working capital plus the non-refundable Option fee of $1 million paid in 2022. The sale implies a gross return of approximately 10% per annum[1] since USF announced the agreement to acquire up to 50% of MS2 from New Energy Solar in December 2020.
No adviser success fees were payable for the sale. Approximately $4.5m of the proceeds has been used to repay the full drawn balance of the Company's revolving credit facility. In conjunction with the ongoing strategic review the Board is considering the use of the remaining proceeds and expects to advise shareholders of the use of those remaining proceeds within the next two weeks.
For further information, please contact:
| US Solar Fund Whitney Voute
| +1 718 230 4329 |
| Cenkos Securities plc James King Tunga Chigovanyika Will Talkington
| +44 20 7397 8900 |
| Jefferies International Limited Stuart Klein Gaudi Le Roux
| +44 20 7029 8000
|
| KL Communications | +44 20 3995 6673 |
| Charles Gorman Charlotte Francis Millie Steyn | |
About US Solar Fund plc
US Solar Fund plc, established in 2019, listed on the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange in April 2019. The Company's investment objective is to provide investors with attractive and sustainable dividends with an element of capital growth by owning and operating solar power assets in North America and other OECD countries in the America.
The solar power assets that the Company acquires or constructs are expected to have an asset life of at least 30 years and generate stable and uncorrelated cashflows by selling electricity to creditworthy offtakers under long-term power purchase agreements (or PPAs). Following the sale of the 50% interest in MS2, the Company's portfolio currently consists of 41 operational solar projects with a total capacity of 443MWDC, all located in the United States.
Further information on the Company can be found on its website at http://www.ussolarfund.co.uk.
About the Investment Manager
USF is managed by New Energy Solar Manager (NESM). NESM also manages New Energy Solar, an Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed fund. Combined, US Solar Fund and New Energy Solar have committed approximately US$1.3 billion to 57 projects totalling 1.2GWDC.
NESM is owned by E&P Funds, the funds management division of E&P Financial Group, an ASX listed company (ASX: EP1) with over A$20 billion of funds under advice.
[1] Before taxes and transaction costs.
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