As a first step when seeking financing from Trine, the borrower sends us a brief presentation of the company. We have a first digital meeting with the company to establish if they pass our screening criteria:
Borrowers must have experience in Operations and Maintenance (O&M), managing a 1MW project via a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), lease, or rent model, or have managed a project with a CAPEX of 1 million EUR. Additionally, they should have a minimum of 12 months of experience in the operation, management, and administration of a portfolio of solar assets.
The sponsor should have the ability to provide equity, be financially stable, or be replaceable by another developer. It must have positive equity, be profitable or on a path to profitability, have lean operations, and have a track record or ability to raise both debt and equity.
The project must generate enough cash flow to service debt.
The management team of the Sponsor must possess a minimum of two years of specific experience in the solar C&I sector.
Trine ensures we have received a full data room containing an overview of the business and the below critical information:
Financial statements and management accounts.
Business plan and forecast.
Organisational overview.
Technical and financial portfolio information.
An initial assessment of the borrower is made and presented to the investment team at Trine. The following aspects are critical to this early assessment:
Portfolio quality.
Operational track record.
Transaction structure.
Proposed pricing and security for the transaction.
Desk review and site visit
Trine conducts a desk review of the borrower as well as a visit to their office and their installations to confirm the desktop review. The desk review consists of reviewing the financial models, financial reports and other key documents related to the business and the transaction. Typically, Trine spends 2-3 days with the borrower to cover the main functions of the business as well as interacting with key employees, customers and suppliers. Our internal risk assessment tool guides us through this process, which you can read more about here.
Investment Committee
The information gathered in the above steps is summarised in an investment document presented to an internal investment committee at Trine. The investment committee looks at the residual risk towards investors, the proposed structure, as well as whether the transaction is in line with our investment policy. If a positive decision is taken, the investment team prepares the investment contracts and security documents together with lawyers. Once all agreements are in place, an investment will be available on the homepage.
If you have any questions, we are here to help. Reach out to us at hello@trine.com.