featured photo above: Jillian Nunes, Vice President & Barbados Country Head, RF Bank

BARBADOS-BASED RF Merchant Bank & Trust Limited (RF) this week announced that it has completed a fund raise of BBD$14m in Green Energy bonds for Williams Renewable Energy Limited (WREL) — a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams Caribbean Capital (WCCB), an entity focused on alternative energy.

This latest funding will allow WREL to finance additional PV solar assets in Barbados in partnership with other local persons and businesses across various roofs and lands. The transaction marks the completion of the first stage of an expected BBD$34-m offering. The second round is expected to be conducted in the form of private placements in Barbados later this year.

“RF was happy to work with the WCCB group again on these new green energy bonds and we believe that the project will have a significant impact in Barbados” said Jillian Nunes, RF vice-president and Barbados country head, adding that “there is increased interest for this type of socially conscious investment, and we hope to see more organisations looking to fund climate-related or environmental projects.”

Founded in 2017 and based in Barbados, WCCB has created the Caribbean’s foremost solar energy business, developing its initial PV solar assets through its subsidiary WREL. RF had also assisted in the initial fund-raising in 2018 which totalled BBD$23.5m — this became the first certified green energy bond in the Caribbean. RF, a regional private bank, offers a wide range of investment products and services including mutual funds, investment management and stock brokerage, among others. Through these financial solutions designed to help individuals and corporate clients meet and achieve their investment goals, the regional financial entity has in excess of US$1 billion in assets under management and over US$2 billion of assets under administration. The bank has also already helped clients raise some US$1.9 billion in equity.

“We are delighted to work with RF for yet another successful round of funding. Their knowledge and experience have been a tremendous asset. We look forward to doing more business with RF in the near future and to match local funds to build locally owned renewable energy systems,” commented Ciaran Burke, co- founder and managing director of WCCB in a joint statement this week.

Source: Jamaica Observer, 2021 (https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/)