Schroders Greencoat will acquire the £700 million (US$758.2 million) Toucan Energy portfolio, the largest operational solar portfolio traded in the UK, with a combined capacity of 513.5 megawatt-peak (MWp) across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, powering the equivalent of approximately 184,000 homes.

Schroders Greencoat is the largest manager of operating solar farms in the UK, with 1.35 gigawatt-peak of solar assets already under management. The company’s extensive track record will benefit the acquired portfolio, and its specialist team of asset managers intend to harness the portfolio’s reliable generation of clean electricity and support the long-term financial stability of the assets.

The majority of the portfolio will be acquired by long-standing Schroders Greencoat managed funds, including Greencoat Solar II and Greencoat Renewable Income, as well as recently launched mandates.

A significant portion is being acquired by six local government pension schemes: Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire Funds via Schroders Greencoat Wessex Gardens, a place-based and locally-focused renewable energy infrastructure fund established last year. Tokyo Century is acting as a co-investor in the acquisition.

Schroders Greencoat agreed to acquire the Toucan Energy portfolio following a competitive bidding process managed by the joint administrators of Toucan Energy Holdings 1 at Interpath Advisory.

“This is a major achievement for Schroders Greencoat, particularly given the size, complexity and number of stakeholders involved in the transaction,” says Lee Moscovitch, Schroders Greencoat partner. “We will aim to deliver reliable returns for our investors via these assets, as they continue to provide a substantial contribution to the UK’s net-zero strategy.”