en.Wedoany.com Reported - British renewable energy company Drax Group has announced an all-cash acquisition of Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF) for a total consideration of approximately £561 million ($755.4 million).
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, BSIF focuses on developing and holding solar and wind energy assets in the UK. Drax Group will execute the acquisition through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Drax Smart Generation Holdco, via a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under Part 8 of the UK Companies Act.
Under the terms of the deal, BSIF shareholders will receive 92.57 pence per share in cash, valuing the total issued share capital at approximately £548 million. Shareholders eligible for the second interim dividend will also receive an additional 2.25 pence per share, bringing the total consideration per share to 94.82 pence and the total transaction value, including dividends, to approximately £561 million. The offer represents a 28% premium to BSIF's closing share price of 72.2 pence on November 4, 2025, and a 19% premium to the one-month volume-weighted average price of 78.06 pence per share on that date. The transaction sets BSIF's enterprise value at approximately £1.08 billion.
The boards of both companies recommend the transaction. BSIF's board, advised financially by Deutsche Numis and Rothschild & Co, considers the offer fair and reasonable. As of May 29, 2026, all BSIF directors holding shares (totaling 176,800 shares, representing 0.03% of the issued share capital) have irrevocably committed to support the deal. Michael Gibbons, Chairman of BSIF, stated that the board believes the acquisition, including the permitted dividend, offers a 31% premium over the closing price on November 4, 2025, presenting an attractive cash value realization opportunity for shareholders. The BSIF board unanimously recommends that BSIF shareholders vote in favor of the acquisition.
Founded in 2013, BSIF was the UK's first listed investment company focused on solar infrastructure. As of December 31, 2025, its portfolio comprised 121 photovoltaic power stations (79 of which are large-scale), 6 wind farms, and 109 small onshore wind turbines. The total operational capacity of the solar and wind assets wholly owned by the company was 748.7 megawatts. BSIF also holds a 25% stake in a joint venture portfolio with GLIL Infrastructure, which has a capacity of 412.1 megawatts, bringing the total operational capacity to 851.8 megawatts, including 793.5 megawatts of solar and 58.3 megawatts of onshore wind.
BSIF's proprietary development pipeline as of the end of 2025 includes 946 megawatts of solar projects and 1.9 gigawatts of battery energy storage system projects, with 25 megawatts under construction, 1.2 gigawatts fully permitted, 47 megawatts in the planning stage, and 1.58 gigawatts in development. Of its solar portfolio, 545 megawatts have secured 15- to 20-year Contracts for Difference through Allocation Rounds 4 to 7. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, BSIF achieved underlying earnings of approximately £95 million, EBITDA of £130 million, and operating free cash flow of £118 million. BSIF expects to generate 880 gigawatt-hours of renewable electricity in the year ending June 30, 2026, enough to power approximately 326,000 homes and offset over 155,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions.
Drax Group believes the offer aligns with its strategy to invest up to £2 billion in flexible and renewable energy between 2025 and 2031. The group's existing operations include 2.6 gigawatts of sustainable biomass, approximately 560 megawatts of hydro and pumped storage hydro assets, as well as a pipeline of battery storage and open-cycle gas turbine projects. Will Gardiner, CEO of Drax Group, stated that the acquisition helps grow the renewable energy generation business while complementing existing operations and the FlexGen portfolio, supporting the UK's energy goals of security of supply, affordability, and decarbonization.
The transaction is subject to shareholder, court, and regulatory approvals, as well as a UK national security and investment review, and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.
This article is compiled by Wedoany. All AI citations must indicate the source as "Wedoany". If there is any infringement or other issues, please notify us promptly, and we will modify or delete it accordingly. Email: news@wedoany.com
