Linklaters has advised the Caruna Group, the largest electricity distribution business in Finland, on the refinancing of its €1.7billion acquisition debt following the acquisition and financing of Fortum Sweden’s electricity distribution assets (owned by a Borealis- led consortium) in June 2015.

The refinancing debt consists of proceeds from a syndicate of banks which lent directly into Caruna, as well as a significant amount of privately placed debt.

Caruna is a regulated electricity distribution utility serving southern, south-western, western and northern Finland and is the country’s largest electricity distribution network with a 20% market share.

Julian Davies, a Structured Finance partner at Linklaters, says: “This transaction is a significant milestone in the European finance industry but also points to a wider trend of divestment of key infrastructure assets by long term owners to new investors. There are certain parts of Europe that are very attractive to investors who are keen on strong long-term infrastructure assets and this is a trend we’re likely to continue seeing in 2016.”

The Linklaters team advising the Caruna Group was led by Structured Finance partner Julian Davies and Infrastructure partner Stuart Rowson.

Linklaters previously advised Borealis on the acquisition and its financing from Fortum Sweden of its electricity distribution assets in March 2014 and is currently advising both Borealis and First State on a number of significant transactions.