Ardian

09 March 2021 Infrastructure France, Paris

Ardian and EDF Invest further strengthen Géosel’s position as a responsible and sustainable player in the strategic storage sector

Paris, March 9th, 2021 – Ardian and EDF Invest, investment partners since 2015, today announce that they have finalized a new €300 million financing for joint subsidiary Transport Stockage Hydrocarbures (TSH), the majority shareholder of Géosel.

Located in the heart of the Luberon Regional Natural Park, France, Géosel is the leading storage site for liquid hydrocarbons in France and the second largest in Europe. The company has invested €150 million over the last few years to maintain its facilities and enhance safety standards.

The new financing will enable Géosel to continue its investments, which includes modernizing its industrial assets, accommodating biofuels and fostering the energy transition projects (such as hydrogen).

The financing is provided in partnership with BNP, Crédit Agricole and other long-term institutional investors.

Collectively, Ardian, EDF Invest and Geosel all pride themselves in the high standards set for responsible development. In line with this, the new financing is subject to ambitious objectives pertaining to environmental, social and governance criteria (ESG), including:

  • Reduction of emissions
  • Achievement of international certifications for environmental and quality management;
  • Maintaining the low rate of accidents at work, through a policy of support for employees and high safety standards.

Amir Sharifi, Managing Director and Head of Energy Transition within the Ardian Infrastructure team, commented:”Strategic storage facilities play a key role in security of supply and energy transition. This funding provides increased means to ensure asset security and prepare for a digital and decarbonized future. It illustrates our innovative and responsible way of supporting the transformation of the companies in which we invest. Commitment to social and environmental performance is a fundamental trend that would be great to see deployed among management teams, investors and lenders in the sector.”

Pierre Benoist d’Anthenay, Head of EDF Invest, stated: “I am delighted that TSH has set up a financing scheme that is innovative in terms of its modalities by combining environmental and safety criteria, and in its purpose, which is to finance the Géosel development projects of tomorrow. It is a strong voluntary commitment by the Géosel teams and the combined management teams of EDF Invest and Ardian, in line with the objectives set by the EDF Group to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. EDF Invest strives in all its holdings to encourage this responsible shareholder logic.”

ABOUT GEOSEL

The Géosel-Manosque underground storage complex, commissioned in 1969, is one of Europe’s leading sites for petroleum products with both operational and strategic uses. It offers a storage capacity of more than 9 million m3 and a network of pipelines, making it a key element in French and European oil logistics. Located in the southeast of France, near Marseille, it is dedicated to the storage of crude oil and refined products. The site is connected to the refineries and petrochemical plants in the Fos/Lavéra area, to the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille and to the European pipeline networks of SPSE, SPMR and ODC (via SPMR).

ABOUT EDF INVEST

EDF Invest is the investment arm of EDF for non-listed Dedicated Assets. Dedicated Assets will fund the decommissioning of EDF’s nuclear power plants in France.
EDF Invest currently manages around €7bn of equity and is targeting €10 billion in the next few years.
Our mission is to diversify EDF’s portfolio of Dedicated Assets and lengthen its investment horizon by targeting 3 non-listed asset classes in France and abroad: Infrastructure, Real Estate and Funds.
Follow EDF Invest on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/edf-invest

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$110bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base.
Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.
Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 700 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of more than 1,000 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

  • Financing:

    • Placement Agent, Agent, Arranger and Hedging Provider: CACIB and BNPP
    • Legal advisor: Clifford Chance
  • Shareholders:

    • Financial advisor: Rothschild & Co
    • Legal advisor: Freshfields

PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN – Headland

VIKTOR TSVETANOV

VTsvetanov@headlandconsultancy.com +44 207 3435 7469

EDF INVEST

Service de Presse

service-de-presse@edf.fr +33 1 40 42 46 37

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