Samsung closes sale of PV portfolio in Bulgaria - RBI

South Korea's Samsung has concluded the sale of its 43 MWp PV portfolio in Bulgaria to Germany's KGAL and Czechia-based Portanero Invest in what is the largest deal for operational solar plants in Bulgaria to date, a consultant on the deal told SeeNews on Wednesday.

The transaction was officially closed on January 7, Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), which acted as financial sell-side adviser to Samsung, told SeeNews in an emailed statement.

KGAL ESPF 4 Holding, the investment arm of KGAL, together with Portanero Invest, a company related to Czechia-based Micronix Group, have agreed to acquire from Samsung C&T Corporation its Bulgarian PV portfolio consisting of seven solar power plants for an undisclosed price, RBI said.

The acquired PV portfolio consists of the managing companies of two solar power plants located close to Vratsa, in north-western Bulgaria, of 15 MWp and 10 MWp each, three solar power plants of 4 MWp each and one of 2 MWp located close to the village of Letnitsa, in north-central Bulgaria, and a 4 MWp solar power plant located close to the village of Veselinovo, in in north-central Bulgaria.

In December, the deal received the go-ahead from the competition regulator.

The combined market share of the seven plants and the financial groups to which Portanero Invest and KGAL belong does not exceed 5% both in terms of installed PV capacity and output, the competition authority said in its decision.

Portanero Invest has set up a subsidiary, which has signed agreements to acquire the seven solar parks. KGAL ESPF 4 Holding has an agreement with Portanero Invest to acquire a 60% stake in the recently-established company, the regulator added.

Micronix Group, the end owner of Portanero Invest, controls two solar parks and one biogas plant near the city of Vidin, in northwestern Bulgaria. The two solar parks have an installed capacity of 2.36 MW and 2.88 MW, respectively, while the biogas plant has an installed capacity of 1.5 MW. The solar parks account for 0.53% of the installed PV capacity in Bulgaria, the regulator said.

The seven solar parks - Agriplam, Veselino Energy, Ecoenergy Solar, Ecosolar, Manageproject, Solar Park and Fishtrade, constitute 4.12% of all installed PV capacity in the country.

Micronix Group's plants in Bulgaria contributed 0.55% of the PV electricity generated in Bulgaria in 2017, while Samsung's solar plants contributed 4.18%.

The seven solar parks ended 2017 with a combined turnover of 25.1 million levs ($14.6 million/12.8 million euro), while Micronix Group's plants generated 4.8 million levs.

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)

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