An infrastructure investor owned by Schroders, the fund administration behemoth, is in pole place to purchase a photo voltaic farms operator that obtained a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of kilos from a scandal-hit native authority.

Sky News understands that Schroders Greencoat has grow to be the main contender to amass Toucan Energy, which collapsed into administration precisely a yr in the past.

It was unclear this weekend whether or not Schroders Greencoat was in formal exclusivity to purchase the portfolio of greater than 50 photo voltaic parks.

Interpath Advisory, which is overseeing the administration course of, appointed KPMG - the accountancy agency from which it was spun out - to deal with the public sale.

Other bidders which had been in rivalry till just lately included GLIL and CKI, the Hong Kong-based infrastructure large.

Toucan's collapse got here after Thurrock Council had invested greater than £650m into the enterprise over a four-year interval.

Although the native authority will obtain a big reimbursement from the sale of the photo voltaic property, Toucan's collapse might but value taxpayers tens and even a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of kilos.

Thurrock's monetary mishaps echo these of different councils which have invested in ill-fated personal sector corporations, together with a big quantity within the power sector.

The timetable for a deal being accomplished was additionally unclear.

A spokesman for Schroders declined to remark.

Content Source: information.sky.com