Burges Salmon has recently advised Oxygen Conservation in respect of a multi-million pound loan facility made by Triodos Bank UK, marking what is believed to be the largest conservation focused commercial debt package in the UK to date.
The loan facility, totalling £20.55 million, has supported Oxygen Conservation to expand its portfolio of owned and managed conservation sites across the UK. They have utilised the funding to purchase 11,407 acres of Langholm Moor, known as Blackburn and Hartsgarth, and an 11,626-acre estate at Invergeldie, near Comrie in Perthshire. The firm also advised Oxygen Conservation in respect of the acquisition of these sites in Scotland.
Oxygen Conservation, founded in June 2021, works to protect and improve natural assets, generating a positive economic return as a result of its work, not as its purpose. They seek to achieve this through the delivery of a diverse range of projects such as regenerative agriculture, woodland creation, renewable energy generation, sustainable housing, and eco-tourism, and carbon sequestration through woodland and peatland restoration.
The Burges Salmon team that advised Oxygen Conservation was led by partners Ross Simpson and Stuart McMillan, senior associates Fay Lamb and Samir Younes and associate Sarah Stewart, along with paralegal Kerry McGee and trainee solicitors Amelia Turner and Alex Manser.
George Pawley, Head of Legal at Oxygen Conservation, says: “Burges Salmon’s valued support on the acquisitions and financing of Invergeldie and Blackburn & Hartsgarth has enabled Oxygen Conservation to add these two unique landscapes to our growing portfolio. We are hugely grateful to Ross, Stuart and their teams for their diligence and determination to help us close this significant debt package, which gives us an incredible opportunity to deliver positive environmental and social impact at scale.”