Astris Finance is very pleased to announce the successful closing of the third round of capital raise of The Blue CIrcle, a leading Singapore-based developer of wind projects in Southeast Asia. The transaction includes a US$34 million equity investment by Acciona Energia in The Blue Circle and a commitment up to US$113.5 million to provide equity for projects that reach ready-to-build status.

The Blue Circle has 84MW of operating wind projects in Vietnam –in which it maintains a 50% voting stake–, and a 1.4GW+ pipeline of projects at an advanced stage of development. The total portfolio under development amounts to 3.8GW spread across Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos and Sri Lanka.

Astris Finance acted as exclusive sell-side financial advisor to The Blue Circle with the mandate to raise adequate capital to sustain the platform’s expected growth over the next five years while minimizing the dilutive impact on the controlling shareholder’s stake in The Blue Circle.

Olivier Duguet, CEO and Chairman of The Blue Circle commented: “We mandated Astris Finance with very specific conditions in terms of partner profile, expected valuation and governance structure, not to mention a “not-to-be missed” long-stop date for completion. Astris entirely managed the process leading to this new partnership with Acciona Energia which is fully aligned with our requirements. I am very thankful for Astris’s commitment, creativity and professionalism in executing this transaction in a timely fashion at this pivotal moment of The Blue Circle’s development.”

Hugo Virag, who heads Astris Finance’s operations in Southeast Asia, said: “We thank Olivier Duguet and The Blue Circle’s shareholders for their renewed confidence in Astris Finance’s capacity to help The Blue Circle raise fresh capital since its very first steps in Southeast Asia, beginning with the long-term, non-recourse project financing of its landmark Dam Nai wind farm in Vietnam back in 2017. We are very pleased with the outcome of this intense six-month competitive process leading to the closing of a well-balanced joint-venture between The Blue Circle and Acciona Energia complemented by an innovative, non-dilutive funding structure.”

Fabrice Henry, CEO of Astris Finance, added: “There is no doubt that the Southeast Asian renewables market is poised for a strong acceleration in the next couple of years, with the upcoming Thai wind program, the launch of a new series of auctions in the Philippines, and the advent of an ambitious PDP8 in Vietnam in particular. In this context, we believe that the partnership we helped establish between The Blue Circle, a regional pioneer, and Acciona, a global renewable powerhouse, will play an instrumental role in helping the region reduce its dependency on fossil fuels.”

This is the tenth M&A transaction closed by Astris this year in the global renewable space, and the third in Southeast Asia in the past 12 months.