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Centrus advises Aer Soléir on the successful financing of its flagship Rondissone battery storage project in Italy

Transaction overview

Aer Soléir announced it has completed the financing for its flagship battery storage project, Rondissone. At 250 MW with a four-hour duration, Rondissone is the largest battery energy storage system (BESS) under construction in Italy. The project is located in Piedmont, which is part of the Italy Nord Power Zone.

Centrus, the project’s debt and hedging advisor, structured the transaction with the senior debt facilities, providing up to 80% of the capex on a long-term, 15-year amortisation profile. The financing is provided by a consortium of leading banks, Bayern LB, Nord/LB, CIBC, Siemens Financial Services, through Siemens Bank and ABN AMRO in a first-of-its-kind financing deal for a BESS asset in the Italian market.

The total project cost is approximately €180 million and represents the first part of Aer Soléir’s €1.5 billion planned capital deployment in Italy across its 17 wind, solar and battery storage projects over the next five years. The Rondissone project won a 15-year Capacity Market Contract with the Italian Government in the first quarter of 2025 and entered into a 7-year fixed toll agreement with EGO Energy in the third quarter of 2025.

Manus O’Donnell, Co-Founder and CFO of Aer Soléir, said: “We are delighted to reach this closing milestone in collaboration with our banking partners. This market-leading project financing further strengthens Aer Soléir’s reputation as a best-in-class renewable energy IPP, and we are well-positioned to continue expanding our footprint and supporting Europe’s accelerating energy transition.”

“Centrus is delighted to have advised Aer Soleir on this landmark BESS financing in Italy. Rondissone is the largest battery storage project under construction in Italy and is very attractive from a lending perspective, partly benefitting from a 15-year capacity market revenue stream from 2027, helping secure market-leading terms on a long-dated debt package.”

Scott Douglas, Senior Director, Head of Debt Advisory – Centrus

For more information, please contact Scott Douglas, Senior Director, Head of Debt Advisory or Mark Taheny, Managing Director, Head of Risk advisory

Centrus advises Porthaven Care Homes on £235m loan facility from Starwood Capital Group

Transaction overview

Porthaven Care Homes (“Porthaven”), a leading provider of high-quality residential, nursing, dementia, and respite care, today announced that it has secured a new £235 million loan facility from an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group (“Starwood Capital”), a leading global private investment firm.

Established in 2010, Porthaven owns and operates 23 care homes across the UK. All homes are characterised by market-leading amenities, including cinema rooms, private dining rooms, café bistros, landscaped gardens, and 100% ensuite wet room facilities as standard.

The loan, secured against 14 of Porthaven’s homes, will be used to refinance existing debt and deliver a refurbishment programme across its portfolio to further enhance the comfort, safety, and well-being of residents.

Porthaven is led by a highly-experienced management team and employs over 1,900 staff to provide care to more than 1,300 residents in the private-pay sector. The business has a strong track record of operational excellence, with 95% of its homes rated ‘Good’ or higher by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Centrus served as financial advisor to Porthaven on this transaction, and Pinsent Masons served as legal advisor.

“Centrus is delighted to have acted as financial advisor to Porthaven on this refinancing. The new financing package provides a number of operational and economic enhancements, allowing Porthaven to continue providing market-leading care homes.”

Scott Douglas, Senior Director, Head of Debt Advisory – Centrus

“This new facility from Starwood Capital underpins their confidence in our business, and enables us to continue our journey in providing excellent care in outstanding environments for our residents.”

Sean Kime, CEO, and Adam Valentine, CFO – Porthaven

“Starwood Capital is pleased to support Porthaven through this new financing. The business has demonstrated a strong track record of delivering high-quality care in modern, purpose-built environments, and we look forward to supporting the next phase of investment across the company’s portfolio.” 

Irakli Meskhi, MD, Head of European Debt Origination – Starwood Capital

“We’re proud to have helped deliver this vital transaction for Porthaven. Our cross-sector team, led by Oliver Morgan and Carl Scott, worked hand-in-hand with the Porthaven and Centrus teams to secure the loan facility from Starwood Capital, ensuring Porthaven will continue to excel as a leading care provider. We look forward to continuing our longstanding relationship with Porthaven and working closely together during the company’s next growth stage”

Joanne Ellis, Global Head of Transactional Services – Pinsent Masons

For more information, please contact Scott Douglas, Senior Director, Head of Debt Advisory or Ella Boomer, Assistant Director

Centrus advises Harworth Group plc on its new £275m revolving credit facility to support continued business growth

Transaction overview

Harworth Group plc is a FTSE-250 listed regeneration & strategic land owner and developer, focused on industrial & logistics (“I&L”) and residential sectors. They own and manage a portfolio of over 15,000 acres of strategic land throughout the North of England and the Midlands.

The transaction involved the refinance and upsizing of their group revolving credit facility (RCF):

  1. Upsized to £275m1 (+£50m accordion), providing ample capacity to support continued business growth
  2. Extended the Group’s debt maturity by c. 2.5 years
  3. Improved the core margin of 200bps over SONIA
  4. Increased operational flexibility and enhanced financial covenant headroom

Centrus’ role

Centrus has acted as Harworth’s financial advisor since 2022. As part of this debt capital raise, Centrus’ role included:

  • Structuring: developed an optimal financing strategy that balanced liquidity, improved pricing and covenant flexibility while aligning with Harworth’s long-term growth objectives
  • Lender engagement: ran a competitive process while managing lender negotiations to achieve favourable pricing and structural terms
  • Execution: provided end-to-end support throughout the process, ensuring smooth execution in line with the transaction timetable

“We are delighted to support longstanding client Harworth Group plc with this strategic refinancing and upsizing of their group revolving credit facility. In addition to increasing the size and extending the maturity of the facility, we were also able to deliver a number of enhancements to both the economics and terms of the facility, which will support Harworth in delivering its growth objectives over the coming years”

Scott Douglas, Senior Director, Head of Debt Advisory – Centrus

For more information, please contact Scott Douglas, Senior Director, Head of Debt Advisory, Ella Boomer, Assistant Director or Sean Quinn, Senior Analyst

1 £240m previous RCF commitments

Centrus advised on the merging of Settle Group and Paradigm Housing


What value did Centrus add?

Centrus leveraged its comprehensive knowledge of each lender and the market to achieve outstanding negotiated outcomes, protecting the full value of the bank loan portfolio, increasing covenant capacity by £70m per year, and aligning covenants and controls.

Developed funding and hedging strategies that supported the client in achieving their goals, provided clarity, and simplified complex transactions. Execution of complex derivatives transactions, sale of retained bonds, and bank loans via two new funder relationships.

Strong project management skills enabled Centrus to effectively coordinate multiple stakeholders across various workstreams. Ensured that all approvals, negotiations, and transactions were completed within demanding timelines.


How did this transaction benefit SettleParadigm?

Value protection – successful merger negotiations, secured consent from over 9 funders and protected £7m of the loan portfolio’s value.

Covenants improved – covenants largely harmonised with £70m increase in annual capacity.

Existing and new funding – a £2bn loan is being restructured, along with new funding comprising £300m of new bank loans and a £150m retained bond sale.

Hedging – 4 new ISDAs with £150m of forward starting interest rate swaps and £150m gilt lock to provide interest rate certainty.

Liquidity – managed the £300m liquidity requirements of a large stock acquisition through an innovative ‘commitment letter + bridge-to-bond’ approach – saving SettleParadigm £300k in fees.

“It was a pleasure to work alongside Natalie Singh and her talented team on this highly complex transaction. By bringing together multidisciplinary expertise and maintaining disciplined project management throughout, we were able to navigate challenging and intricate negotiations and deliver an excellent outcome for our client. We were able to protect significant debt portfolio value and put in place robust treasury risk management solutions, providing SettleParadigm with a strong foundation to achieve its corporate objectives and deliver real benefits for customers. I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved collectively.”

Lawrence Gill, Director, Housing, Education & Care – Centrus

“Centrus’ commercial insight and disciplined project management helped to deliver the merger within a demanding timeline.  Their advice helped us overcome challenges that were faced, creating real and lasting value for our organisation. Centrus’ expertise and guidance throughout the analysis, negotiation, and completion of the merger were invaluable. Their strategic advice helped SettleParadigm achieve the desired outcome and protect value in complex negotiations. The Centrus team helped us manage a highly complex, multi-stakeholder process, coordinating with numerous funders and advisers to maintain momentum and alignment at every stage. Their insight into innovative financial solutions, such as gilt-locks and forward-starting swaps added value to project.”

Nicola Ewen, Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Chief Executive – SettleParadigm

For more information, please get in touch with Lawrence Gill, Director, Akhil Shah, Assistant Director or Usama Shoaib, Senior Associate, all of Housing, Education & Care.

Centrus advised £90m banking restructure, completes £20m in new funding


What value did Centrus add?

  • Proactive identification of opportunities to enhance Broadacres Housing Association’s existing portfolio
  • Development of a clear, effective strategy to deliver, reflecting Broadacres’ specific credit narrative
  • Project management of the process, protecting management time whilst delivering in less than 3 months
  • Effective benchmarking from our extensive market data points, maximising outcomes and providing assurance on value for money
  • Supported Broadacres’ implementation of their first Loan Linked ISDA, including training of Executive and Board teams on its impact and benefits


How did this transaction benefit Broadacres?

The banking restructure provided material benefits, including:

  • Reduction in margins saving Broadacres £328k p.a.
  • Inclusion of ESG discount capability, offering potential further annual savings of £43k p.a.
  • Implementation of a loan-linked ISDA, Broadacres first,  ensuring a flexible hedging strategy
  • Boost in portfolio weighted average life from 9 years to 10 years
  • Covenant updates boosting debt capacity by 27%

£20m in new funding was arranged on highly competitive terms, including accessing NatWest’s Social Loan. The transaction reduces costs, risks, and improves flexibility and liquidity.

“We are absolutely delighted with the restructure, which has improved our treasury cost efficiency, covenant headroom, and liquidity ensuring we are in an excellent position moving forward. Centrus have been a fantastic partner to work with throughout the process and the results speak for themselves, delivering excellent value for money. Centrus’ proactivity and experience in these transactions , alongside their clear and regular engagement was a vital part of delivering the transaction to a tight timeline and providing comfort to the Board that the best possible outcome had been delivered.”

Andrew McColl, Director of Resources – Broadacres Housing Association

For more information, please contact Tom Miller, Director, Housing, Education & Care

Centrus advises Castles & Coasts Housing Association on £40m RCF & £30m bank term loan


What value did Centrus add?

Centrus formulated a treasury strategy for CCHA’s board to identify key funding requirements and led a competitive fundraising process, utilising market-leading insights to obtain cost-effective and covenant-supportive options, before recommending an option that aligned with CCHA’s goals.

A competitive fundraising process was structured by Centrus to enable the delivery of optimal results on key commercial terms and negotiated successfully with the chosen lenders to achieve a meaningful interest margin discount on already competitive terms.

Centrus complete project management helped deliver the project within just 14 weeks, allowing CCHA’s to achieve their targeted governance process.


How did this transaction benefit Castles & Coasts?

£30 million in term loans and a £40 million RCF will support medium-term investment in building new homes and improving current homes. Very competitive pricing achieved, resulting in £1.8 million in interest savings compared to plan assumptions and £44,000 per year savings compared to existing RCFs.

Financial, security, and key corporate covenants optimised

  • Improved covenant position – enhancement of 20% for ICR  and 18% for gearing

Appropriate structuring to manage treasury risk effectively

  • Significantly reduced refinancing risk by increasing bank WAL from 2 years to 6 years
  • Included a 1-year availability period on term debt, providing flexibility on spend timing while minimising the cost of carry
  • Enabled CCHA to execute additional embedded hedging through its term loan agreement to avoid the risk of margin calls and the impact of mark-to-market on its financial statement

“We were delighted to work with Centrus on a £30m term loan and £40m RCF to support our medium-term investment plans. Their expert advice, market insight and flexible approach helped us meet a challenging deadline and achieve excellent value for money. The team’s professionalism and attention to detail ensured an optimal outcome, strengthening our treasury position and supporting our future development plans. They provide an exceptional service – always a pleasure to work with and consistently deliver outstanding results.”

Jamie Wright, Acting Finance Director – Castles & Coasts Housing Association

For more information, please contact Tom Miller, Director, Housing, Education & Care

Centrus Advises Auxesia Homes on £25m Social Loan with HSBC UK

Transaction overview

Centrus has advised Auxesia Homes on securing a £25 million social loan from HSBC UK, supporting the organisation’s continued growth and commitment to delivering high-quality, affordable homes across the UK. The funding will enable Auxesia to refinance existing facilities and invest in the development of around 1,300 new homes by 2030, strengthening its position as a leading for-profit registered provider focused on social impact.

The three-year facility provides a flexible platform for future expansion, helping Auxesia scale its delivery of new-build houses and apartments in partnership with SME and national housebuilders.

“We’re delighted to have advised Auxesia Homes on this latest funding. Having worked with the team since 2021, it’s great to see the business continue to grow from strength to strength, delivering high-quality homes while keeping residents and social impact at the heart of what they do.” 

Scott Douglas, Senior Director, Head of Debt Advisory – Centrus

Centrus acted as financial adviser to Auxesia Homes, with Anthony Collins Solicitors providing legal support on the transaction.

For more information, please contact Scott Douglas, Senior Director, Head of Debt Advisory – Centrus and Ella Boomer, Assistant Director, Debt Advisory – Centrus

Centrus advises Foresight’s private infrastructure Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners (“FEIP”) fund on a NAV financing to support the development of its portfolio

Transaction overview

Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners (“FEIP”, “the Fund”), a private fund managed by Foresight Group LLP, has secured a €80m NAV facility from RBS International to support the ongoing investment programme of the Fund.

The transaction was led by Centrus representatives Barney Harris, Jack Joel and Lauren McLoughlin, with Ashurst acting as legal adviser to the borrower and Travers Smith representing the lender.


Centrus’ role and added value

Centrus acted as exclusive financial advisor to FEIP, playing a central role in the structuring and execution of the transaction. Their involvement ensured the facility was tailored to FEIP’s requirements and allowed the Fund to realise its objectives. Key areas of support included:

  • Managing engagement with lenders and coordinating the lender due diligence process
  • Negotiating and refining the commercial terms of the facility
  • Structuring the facility to include a scalable accordion feature
  • Aligning the facility with FEIP’s cash flow profile

Centrus’ expertise enabled FEIP to secure a flexible, efficient capital solution to support the current operations and future development of the Fund.

“We are pleased to have secured this financing package, which will support both the growth of FEIP and the continued success of its portfolio. Our thanks go to Centrus for their expert advice and to RBS International UK for their confidence in backing our strategy.”

Ben Williams, Investment Director – Foresight

“Centrus is delighted to have acted as financial advisor to Foresight to arrange this competitive financing package from RBS International UK, supporting FEIP’s current operations and future developments of the underlying portfolio.”

Barney Harris, Assistant Director, Debt Advisory – Centrus

For more information, please contact Barney Harris Assiatant Director, Debt Advisory

Centrus advises Ancala on acquisition financing for Irish telecom tower portfolio

Centrus acted as exclusive debt adviser to Ancala Partners LLP (Ancala) in arranging the financing for its acquisition of 300 telecom towers across Ireland from Phoenix Tower International (PTI).

The portfolio forms a cornerstone investment for Ancala’s newly launched tower platform, TorLoc Towers, which has assumed the existing customer contracts and will continue to provide critical infrastructure services to mobile network operators and other clients, including emergency services, rural broadband providers and private enterprise networks.

This landmark transaction marks Ancala’s first tower acquisition in Ireland, which aims to become a leading independent tower platform. Ancala intends to grow the platform organically and through complementary acquisitions.

“We are delighted to have supported Ancala on this important acquisition. Telecom towers represent mission-critical digital infrastructure, and this transaction underlines both the resilience of the sector and Ancala’s commitment to investing in assets that deliver long-term value for communities and shareholders alike”

Scott Douglas, Senior Director, Head of Debt Advisory – Centrus

Centrus continues to support real asset investors across Europe and North America with expert debt and capital advisory services for digital and essential infrastructure.

For more information, please contact Scott Douglas, Senior Director, Head of Debt Advisory.