QInvest announces completion of Turkish project financing

18/02/2016 08:33 AST

QInvest, Qatar’s leading investment group, has provided a five-year $30m murabaha mezzanine finance facility for Crescent Capital to fund its acquisition of a 100 percent stake in Akocak HPP, an operational 81 MW hydro-electric power plant in Turkey.

QInvest has structured and invested in this transaction, which is the first of its kind, alongside Garanti Bank, Turkey’s leading energy and infrastructure financier and the sole senior lender for the dual-tranche funding package of $100m. The agreement was formalised at a signing ceremony which was attended by Aygen Yayikoglu, Founder and Managing Partner of Crescent Capital, and Can Güçlü, Managing Director in the Investment Banking Division of QInvest. The investment was made through Crescent’s Clean Energy Transition Fund (CETF), the first energy-focused private equity fund in Turkey, backed by leading international financial institutions.

Akocak is CETF’s eighth investment to date, and is a “run-of-river” hydroelectricity power plant located in the province of Trabzon, Eastern Black Sea Region and has been acquired from a large Turkish energy holding company.

Aygen Yayikoglu, Founder and Managing Partner of Crescent Capital, said: “We are thankful to QInvest for their support on this transaction based on their specialist experience in murabaha financing, prominent position in the GCC, and understanding of the Turkish market. Based on the success of this transaction, we look forward to deepening our cooperation in the future”.

Can Güçlü, Managing Director, from QInvest said:“We have been analyzing at the Turkish Energy sector for some time now as we felt that it has great opportunities to offer. We are extremely proud to be part of such a landmark transaction. QInvest’s facility allowed the transaction to conclude by supporting Crescent capital with mezzanine financing. Our structured finance team worked hard to devise a structure that met the needs of Crescent Capital to acquire this asset in a sharia’a compliant way.”

The Peninsula