TLRNet, an Italian company active in the district heating sector and controlled by the Piedmontese multiutility Egea and the Icon Infrastructure Partners III fund, has received a 92 million euro loan from a pool of banks (see the press release here).
The capital raised will in fact be used to continue the management of the district heating systems owned by some special purpose companies controlled by TLRNet and located in the North West area of Italy, where the Italian multi-utility concentrates its core business and for the realization by the company Telenergia of the first phase of a new district heating system in the Municipality of Alessandria, with a thermal capacity of 82,000 MWh, which will grow to full capacity up to about 200,000 MWh.
In consideration of the usefulness of the project and the benefits deriving from it on the environment, the loan was structured as a green loan in accordance with the Green Loan Principles published by the Loan Market Association.
Legance assisted TLRNet and Icon for the legal aspects of the financing, while Egea was followed by the law firm Gitti and Partners. ValeCap acted as financial advisor to Egea and Icon. The lending banks were supported by the Orrick law firm. The notary aspects of the transaction were followed by the La Porta notary office.
Regarding the transaction, Pierpaolo Carini, chairman and ceo of Egea, and Daniel Agostino, managing partner of Icon, said: “We are really satisfied with the trust that, even at this delicate moment, the banking system has given to the investments promoted by our Group, particularly aimed at improving safety and the environment. In concrete terms, the finance granted will be used to complete and develop the important new district heating project in Alessandria “.
TLRNet is a holding company controlled by the Egea Group, to which Egea has contributed the investments relating to the district heating business and which has been 49% owned by Icon Infrastructure since December 2017 (see here a previous article by BeBeez). Last January the fund also bought 49% of the Egea group’s public lighting sector activities (see here a previous article by BeBeez).
Egea, a multiutility company based in Alba, operates throughout Italy, particularly in the North-West, with a specialization in the provision of public services related to the energy and environment sectors. In particular, the construction and management of district heating plants and networks represent one of Egea’s core businesses. In this sector, the group is currently present in 15 cities, distributed between Lower Piedmont and Liguria. The Alexandria project extends the horizon of Egea’s intervention in the area of district heating, even to larger urban realities than those hitherto district heating and lays the foundations for further development initiatives in similar contexts. The Egea group closed 2018 with 781.5 million euros of consolidated revenues, 29.1 million ebitda and 149.4 million of net financial debt, including a minibond originally of 15 million (today 7.5 million remain) listed on the ExtraMot Pro in 2015, maturing in March 2021 and 5.5% coupon (see here a previous article by BeBeez).
Icon Infrastructure is a fund under English law active since 2011, highly specialized in infrastructure investments in Europe and North America, with a portfolio of over two and a half billion euros.
