Foresight Group launches European Solar Fund, opens new office

The new fund will invest in solar photovoltaic opportunities in Italy and Greece, with the intention of expanding to other Southern European markets in the future, the firm said. Foresight is looking to take advantage of the long-term government-backed incentives, in the form of feed-in tariffs, and asset-backed projects using established technologies, to build a dedicated portfolio of projects.

Foresight has recently opened a European office in Rome, to focus on identifying and executing investment opportunities in Southern Europe. Foresight’s Italian division is led by Luca Passariello, formerly of Bain & Company, who has been appointed as European general manager to lead the group’s activities in the region.

Passariello said, ‘As specialists in environmental infrastructure, Foresight recognises that Italy, currently the fastest growing solar infrastructure market in Europe, represents a significant investment opportunity. We have already secured framework agreements, representing more than 250 MW, with five Italian construction companies in the solar PV sector. We also have relationships in place with several banks which, despite the current financial environment, are interested in funding our projects. We intend to grow our solar portfolio significantly over the next year with the aim of becoming a top five solar investor in Italy by the end of 2009.’

Bernard Fairman, managing director and founder of Foresight, added, ‘Opening an office in Italy is part of our long-term strategy to increase our access to key European markets that are at the forefront of developments in the environmental infrastructure space, in particular solar. The European Solar Fund will enable us to maximise the investment opportunities in Italy and beyond and we are seeing strong interest from institutions and private investors who recognise the return potential of the sector.’

Foresight currently manages over €250m across a number of funds. These include the Foresight European Solar Fund and the Foresight UK Sustainable Investment Fund, a £22.5m fund focused on investments in environmental infrastructure.

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