DLA Piper advises Rubicon on financing for construction of anaerobic digestion plant

DLA Piper has advised Rubicon Capital Management (Rubicon) on establishing and structuring an Irish funding vehicle. This vehicle will facilitate capital deployment from Rubicon’s recently launched Infrastructure and Energy Transition Debt Fund. Additionally, it will finance the construction, development, and ongoing management of an anaerobic digestion plant in Wales, sponsored by abrdn Global Sustainable Infrastructure Partners and The Circular Economy Developments Ltd (TCED).

As the maiden transaction for Rubicon’s Infrastructure and Energy Transition Debt Fund, the project is an illustration of its strategy of investing in assets with long-term secured revenue streams that also directly meets environmental goals by diverting food waste from land spreading.

The transaction was led by Charlotte Lewis-Williams (partner) and Stefanie Atchinson (legal director) in DLA Piper's Finance practice with support from a cross-border and cross-discipline team including partners Conor Houlihan, Iain Elder, Michael Graham and Maura Dineen; Jennifer Jin and Dubravka Grujic (both legal directors); Tom Metcalfe, Sophie Linnell and Oisin Mulvihill (all senior associates); Mmanake Msiza, Tasha Chia and Maximilian Mitscherlich (all associates); and Kieran Teo (trainee solicitor).

Charlotte Lewis-Williams commented: "Rubicon's new sponsored fund, which was used for this transaction, offers flexible, innovative debt solutions with a strong focus on sustainability. This is a strategy which DLA Piper is uniquely placed to assist with, and we look forward to working with Rubicon on further tailor-made deals in the core, core+, renewables, sustainability, infrastructure, and energy transition sectors."

Jesus Gonzalez Torrijos, CEO, Rubicon Capital Management added: “We are excited to have the opportunity to partner with abrdn for the first transaction of our Infrastructure and Energy Transition Debt Fund. We are pleased to have provided a tailor-made solution while meeting a challenging timeline.”

As a global investment company with over GBP500 billion of client assets under management, abrdn is focused on offering its clients support on their investments. The project has been invested from its aGSIP IV – abrdn Concession Infrastructure’s fourteenth infrastructure fund, and its fourth global infrastructure fund series. Since its launch over 20 years ago, abrdn's Concession Infrastructure team manages a portfolio of infrastructure assets across Europe, the Americas and Australia.

The Deeside project is a key milestone for TCED, a company whose unique selling proposition is decarbonising high-energy users by developing a fleet of carbon-negative renewable energy plants. By converting food waste into renewable energy and green fertiliser, this facility will play a crucial role in reducing emissions and supporting the UK’s transition to a circular economy.