The Board of Greencoat UK Wind PLC (UKW) has announced the agreement to acquire the whole of Cotton Farm and Earl's Hall Farm Wind Farms from BayWa r.e. renewable energy GmbH (BayWa r.e.), a subsidiary of the BayWa Group (the German listed agriculture, building materials and energy group) for a total consideration of £70.0 million including prepayment of existing indebtedness and including £6.4 million of cash. The acquisition, which is expected to complete on October 2^nd 2013, will be funded through reinvestment of UKW's cash resources and acquisition debt facility.

Cotton Farm Wind Farm is located in Cambridgeshire, England and has a total capacity of 16.4 MW and a forecast load factor of 35.6% whilst Earl's Hall Farm Wind Farm is located in Essex, England and has a total capacity of 10.25 MW and a forecast load factor of 35.4%.

Cotton Farm and Earl's Hall Farm Wind Farms were developed by Npower Renewables Limited, part of the RWE Group (the German listed utility), and constructed by BayWa r.e.. Both wind farms came into operation in March 2013 and, consequently, will be subject to an adjustment mechanism that will assess energy production over a two-year period and would adjust the acquisition price accordingly.

The additional wind farms will bring the total number of UKW's wind farm investments to 8 and will increase UKW's net generating capacity to 153.1 MW.

Tim Ingram, Chairman, said:

"We are pleased to announce our first additions to our portfolio following the fundraise and listing earlier in the year.  As highlighted in our maiden interim results, the portfolio is performing well and we are excited by the substantial growth opportunities in the UK wind farm market."

Greencoat UK Wind raised £260 million in an oversubscribed float in March.

Source: Greencoat UK Wind