Leading renewable energy infrastructure investor Excelsior Energy Capital announced the sale of 38 solar energy and solar plus storage projects from its Fund I portfolio to BlackRock’s Evergreen Infrastructure Partners Fund. As part of the deal, Excelsior divested its entire stake.
The deal with BlackRock represents Excelsior’s first exit from its inaugural fund, Excelsior Renewable Energy Investment Fund I LP. This fund launched seven years ago and it attracted capital commitments above the $500 million target. This fund has invested in solar, wind, and battery storage projects across 10 U.S. states. The fund assets support the generation of over 3,000 GWh of renewable energy every year at steady-state operations.
Since its founding in 2017, Excelsior has utilized industry expertise to execute middle-market renewable energy infrastructure investments. The firm has served a large and growing market targeting low-risk, long-term, and stable yields with low correlation to other asset classes.
The project portfolio comprises operational solar and battery storage distributed generation projects with a total nameplate capacity of 89 MWDC. And this made these assets an ideal candidate for an exit separate from Excelsior’s other utility-scale assets held within the same fund.
Excelsior was advised by Akin Gump, led by partner Dan Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and KeyBanc Capital Markets throughout the sale process. Latham & Watkins, along with KPMG, Natural Power, and Thorndike Landing, advised BlackRock.
KEY QUOTES:
“This successful exit marks a proud milestone for the Excelsior team and validates our differentiated strategy for addressing North American renewable power generation.”
- Chris Moakley, Managing Partner of Excelsior
“The sale confirms Excelsior’s ability to successfully manage the full life-cycle of an investment from origination through to realization.”
- Excelsior Co-Founder and Partner Anne Marie Denman
“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.”
“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.”
- James Berner, Managing Director and Head of the Americas for BlackRock’s Evergreen Infrastructure Partners Fund
