The 100% divestment to BlackRock’s Evergreen Infrastructure Partners Fund represents first exit in Excelsior’s inaugural fund.
Excelsior Energy Capital (“Excelsior” or “the firm”), a leading renewable energy infrastructure investor, today announced the sale of a portfolio of 38 solar energy and solar plus storage projects from its Fund I portfolio to BlackRock’s Evergreen Infrastructure Partners Fund (“BlackRock”). The firm divested its entire stake as part of the transaction.
The sale to BlackRock represents Excelsior’s first exit from its inaugural fund, Excelsior Renewable Energy Investment Fund I LP. The fund, which launched seven years ago and attracted capital commitments above its $500M target, has invested in solar, wind, and battery storage projects across 10 U.S. states. Fund assets support the generation of more than 3,000 GWh of renewable energy annually at steady state operations.
Since its founding in 2017, Excelsior has leveraged deep industry expertise to execute middle-market renewable energy infrastructure investments, serving a large and growing – but still fragmented – market targeting low-risk, long-term, stable yields with low correlation to other asset classes.
“This successful exit marks a proud milestone for the Excelsior team and validates our differentiated strategy for addressing North American renewable power generation,” said Chris Moakley, Managing Partner of Excelsior. Co-Founder and Partner Anne Marie Denman added, “The sale confirms Excelsior’s ability to successfully manage the full life-cycle of an investment from origination through to realization.”
The project portfolio consists entirely of operational solar and battery storage distributed generation projects with a total nameplate capacity of 89 MWDC, which formed a distinct sub-portfolio within Excelsior’s Fund I. This made these assets suitable for an exit separate from Excelsior’s other utility-scale assets held within the same fund.
“We believe this diversified portfolio of long-term contracted commercial and industrial solar and storage projects represents an attractive platform investment for the core, open-ended Evergreen fund,” said James Berner, Managing Director and Head of the Americas for BlackRock’s Evergreen Infrastructure Partners Fund. “This investment, sourced from a strong existing relationship across BlackRock Infrastructure with Excelsior, epitomizes the fund’s strategy of investing in long-dated infrastructure platforms with potential future growth well aligned with the energy transition and energy security.”
Excelsior was advised by Akin Gump, led by partner Dan Lynch, as well as Morgan Stanley and KeyBanc Capital Markets throughout the sale process. Latham & Watkins, along with KPMG, Natural Power, and Thorndike Landing advised BlackRock.
About Excelsior Energy Capital
Excelsior Energy Capital is a renewable energy infrastructure fund focused on middle-market investments in wind, solar and battery storage plants, and businesses across North America. The highly specialized team brings over 100 years of combined experience and a comprehensive set of strategic, financial, legal and operational expertise; making Excelsior Energy Capital a valuable partner for developers and operators, and a trusted manager for investors. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the firm was founded in 2017 with two active funds totaling over $1 billion of equity capital. For more information, visit http://www.excelsiorcapital.com.
DISCLOSURE
This material does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Securities of Fund I (the “Fund”) managed by Excelsior Energy Capital (the “Firm”) are offered to select investors only by means of a complete offering memorandum and related subscription materials which contain significant additional information about the terms of an investment in the Fund (such documents, the “Offering Documents”). Any reproduction or other distribution of this material in whole or in part without the prior written consent of the Firm is prohibited.
Opinions, estimates and projections in this announcement constitute the current judgment of the Firm and are subject to change without notice.
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Contacts
For Excelsior:
George Spencer
BackBay Communications
george.spencer@backbaycommunications.com
