Aquila plans float for trust to raise up to £150 million for sustainability-focused investments

German fund management group Aquila Capital has announced plans to float a green energy-focused trust in London in a listing it hopes will raise up to £150 million.

The Hamburg-based, sustainable asset-focused group launched the Aquila Energy Efficiency Trust (AEET), which has plans to invest across the UK and Europe in sector projects including electric car charging infrastructure and energy-saving boilers.

Aquila, which has already identified an £180 million pipeline of energy efficient assets for the trust's potential acquisition, will act as its investment adviser.

Alex Betts, senior investment manager at Aquila, said the asset pipeline is "predicted to generate stable cash flows for shareholders and significant environmental impact".

He said: "Today is a very exciting day for Aquila Capital as we launch a new listed fund offering on the London market that offers an opportunity for investors to gain exposure to a rapidly growing infrastructure sector."

AEET said it would target shareholder return of up to 9.5% per year in the medium term. 

The trust's chair, Miriam Greenwood, said the float will "allow investors to access a leading European investment manager with considerable experience in the sector".

Aquila Capital CEO, Roman Rosslenbroich, said that European energy efficiency investments "are characterized by an attractive and stable risk return profile due to largely contractually fixed cash flows and very limited exposure to fluctuations in the financial markets".

Peel Hunt is sole sponsor and placing agent on the float.