IFG seeks to raise €40m for Spanish solar energy venture

FINANCIAL SERVICES group IFG has embarked on a €40 million fundraising campaign for a €200 million solar energy venture in Spain.

The effort on behalf of the Quintas Energy consortium, an offshoot of Cork-based firm Quintas Wealth Management, assumes that the backers of the project will achieve 80 per cent gearing in a difficult banking market on the equity investment in the project.

In spite of the economic slowdown, IFG believes there is potential to raise some €100,000 each from some 400 private clients. The organisation sees an opportunity to raise this money in light of the property downturn and volatility in equity markets.

Potential participants in the scheme have been told that a €100,000 investment "is expected" to return an average of €42,000 per annum gross after the 12th year. Such projections are not guaranteed. Participants have to pay a 2 per cent entry cost on their investment.

"In this case the returns in years one to 12 will be used to repay the finance as quickly as possible," says a circular.

Quintas Energy, based in Seville, is led by businessmen Declan O'Halloran and Tim McCarthy, managing partner of Quintas Wealth Management.

"Spain has established a firm legal basis for incentivising investment in renewable energy and we are pleased to bring the product to the market for our customers," said Gary Owens, chief executive of IFG Ireland.

"The underlying guarantees provided by the Spanish government and the drive towards sourcing green, renewable and efficient energy provides an excellent framework to generate real positive returns for investors."

Quintas aims to bring groups of solar farms, as solar energy installations are known, together to realise savings by sharing the cost of security, management and maintenance.

"Matching increased technical performance to practical cost-cutting has been the key to the success of solar energy production," the firm says. "Rooftop installations are often smaller in terms of total power than solar farms but their advantages include making use of unseen spaces in urban locations with easy access to the grid."