Hana Fin, Korea Investment acquire $162 mn Finland wind farms

Hana Financial Investment Co. Ltd. and Korea Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. have acquired the entire equity interest of three wind farms in Finland for around 190 billion won ($162 million), in an investment expected to deliver a steady dividend income for the next 20 years.

The two brokerage companies invested in the portfolio from Helsinki-based Taaleri Energia via funds of NH-Amundi Asset Management Co. Ltd. and IBK Asset Management Co. Ltd.

They plan to sell down the portfolio to domestic institutional investors in the form of equity for 70 billion won and in debt for 120 billion, according to sources involved in the transaction on Jan. 6. They will not borrow a loan for the acquisition.

“We are expecting to receive the principal and dividend on a stable basis thanks to the FIT (feed-in-tariff) system, a government subsidy scheme for renewable energy plants,” a Hana Financial source told the Korean Investors.

The subsidy scheme will remain in place for the next 20 years.

He declined to disclose expected returns from the portfolio.

The wind farms are located in the Nyby and Myllykangas, 55 km north of the city of Oulu and have a total of 30 turbines with a combined production capacity of 73.2 MW.

They have been fully operational since 2015 and 2016, and supply electricity to around 28,000 households, Taaleri Energia said in a press release last week.

Taaleri Energia is a Finnish renewable energy developer and fund manager, with 6.6 billion euros in assets under management. It will continue to manage the three wind plants under a managed account agreement.

In 2019, Korean power utilities and financial institutions acquired or made equity investment in wind farms in Sweden and Germany for a combined 630 billion won.

hiuneal@hankyung.com

(Photo: Getty Images Bank)