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The investment arm of Aviva has acquired a 23MW portfolio of solar rooftop assets from installer HomeSun in what is the single largest residential-scale renewables transaction in the UK.
The deal is reportedly valued at £100m and covers 7,000 individual solar installations on UK homes.
HomeSun, which shot to fame when it took the UK government to court over its reduction to the feed-in tariff, built its business model on installation systems for free in return for the subsidy payments.
The transaction is the first time that a major financial institution has procured this number of installations in a single deal.
Ian Berry, fund manager for infrastructure and renewable energy at Aviva Investors, said, 'This strategic investment in UK renewables is one of many we have planned and is part of our strategy of investing in high quality renewable energy infrastructure assets.
'We are delighted to have concluded this transaction and acquired these operational renewable energy assets. In this challenging environment, we are focused on leveraging our leading market position, sector knowledge, and financing skills in order to identify attractive opportunities and execute deals for the benefit of investors.
'Many institutions are looking to invest in assets that offer secure and long-dated income streams, in order to meet their liabilities, and infrastructure as an asset class has the potential to meet these needs.'
Aviva was unable to provide any further details on whether it plans to make further investments at this scale but it manages a number of related funds, including one that is solely focused on Europe's renewables sector.
HomeSun's business saw a rapid rise and growth during the solar frenzy when a generous tariff sparked a steep rise in the number of panels being fitted to UK homes. HomeSun's case at the Court of Appeal then found the government had acted illegally in its retrospective slashing of the pay-outs.
CEO Daniel Green said about the sale to Aviva, 'HomeSun launched free solar across the UK and became the number one installer for free solar and SolarShare.
'Our plan has always been to find a long term partner that will continue to provide security to our customers whose systems will be managed and monitored for 25 years.
'Aviva Investors has demonstrated itself to be the ideal choice throughout the process. HomeSun will continue to work with all of our customers, supporting all of the installations and developing the next innovation in products and services.'
