Partners Group agrees the sale of its stake in Merkur Offshore, a 396MW German offshore wind farm development

Partners Group

Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, has, on behalf of its clients, agreed to sell its stake in Merkur Offshore (“Merkur” or “the Asset”), a 396MW offshore wind farm located in the North Sea. Partners Group is the largest shareholder in a consortium of Merkur shareholders (“the Consortium”), which includes InfraRed Capital Partners, DEME Concessions, GE Energy Financial Services and ADEME. The Consortium has agreed to sell 100% of Merkur to APG, the Dutch pension investor, and The Renewables Infrastructure Group (“TRIG”), the London-listed investment company advised by InfraRed Capital Partners.

Partners Group, together with the Consortium, acquired Merkur in August 2016, in line with the firm’s relative value strategy of proactively building core assets. Over the last three years, the Asset has been transformed from a construction-ready development site to a utility-scale wind farm within the German exclusive economic zone off the North Sea coast. Now fully operational, Merkur comprises 66 General Electric (“GE”) Haliade-150 6MW offshore wind turbines, which are capable of supplying green energy to approximately 500,000 households. The project benefits from a guaranteed Feed-in-Tariff until 2033 and has a ten-year O&M agreement with GE Renewable Energy for the service and maintenance of the turbines.

Partners Group and the Consortium worked closely with Merkur’s management team over the last three years to create value, including delivering the construction in line with budget, optimizing the operations for the next 30 years, building a strong in-house team for Merkur and strengthening the capital structure with a refinancing.

David Daum, Senior Vice President, Private Infrastructure Europe, Partners Group, states: “We are very proud to have supported Merkur through its key value creation period, from development project to fully operational core asset. Renewable energy not only continues to be a transformative trend within the infrastructure asset class and an important component of Europe’s future energy security, but it is also a key focus of Partners Group’s infrastructure investment strategy.”

Since 2011, Partners Group has invested around USD 2.4 billion into renewable energy globally on behalf of its clients, primarily into wind and solar power projects. These projects have a total operational capacity of approximately 5.9GW, enough to power hundreds of thousands of households globally.

BofA Securities acted as exclusive financial adviser to the Consortium in the sale of Merkur.

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EWE sets course for further growth with investor Ardian

Ardian

Transaction comprises 26% of shares in EWE, one of Germany’s largest utility companies, emphasising Ardian’s focus on renewables, telecommunications and networks

Oldenburg / Paris / Düsseldorf, 6 December 2019 – EWE and EWE-Verband today agreed on the transfer of 26% of EWE AG’s shares to Ardian, the world-leading private investment house and long-term infrastructure investor. Once the transaction has been completed, the partners will work together to accelerate EWE’s growth, investing particularly in the strategic areas of renewable energy, telecommunications and networks. EWE and EWE-Verband had been gradually acquiring shares back from former partner EnBW since Autumn 2015 with plans to find a new investor. The closing of the transaction is subject to the approval of the German Federal Cartel Office, which is expected in the first quarter of 2020. The companies are not disclosing the financial details of the transaction. Once the transaction has been completed, the following companies will hold a stake in EWE AG: EWE-Verband, with 74% (59% Weser-Ems-Energiebeteiligungen GmbH, 15% Energieverband Elbe-Weser Beteiligungsholding GmbH) and Ardian with 26%.

Stefan Dohler, Chief Executive Officer of EWE AG, said: “With Ardian, we will have a strategic growth partner with extensive experience in the pan-European infrastructure sector with thinking just as long-term, prudent and sustainable as ours. It was important to us that the new investor supports EWE’s strategic goals and helps us on our path of change and growth with opportunities from its investment portfolio. We know where we intend to go. We continue to make progress with our move towards becoming an innovative solution provider, offering integrated services and products for energy, communication, networked data and mobility. We want to play an active role in shaping the climate-friendly and digitalised future of energy and communications, and set positive standards based on a position of regional strength. With its entrepreneurial approach to this path, Ardian is the strong partner we have been looking for.”

Heiner Schönecke, Managing Director of EWE-Verband, added: “Historically rooted in northwest Germany and with traditionally strong minority shareholders as long-term partners, EWE has grown into a company that has always made a major contribution to regional development. EWE retains close ties to the Ems/Weser/Elbe region via the districts and free cities that are part of EWE-Verband. One aspect that was important to us was that the new investor saw the company’s regional roots and local character as a strength. Ardian also offers access to further growth capital and innovative technologies.”

Bernhard Bramlage, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of EWE AG, added: “Today’s agreement marks the successful completion of the structured process to transfer the EWE shares bought back from EnBW to an investor who supports EWE’s strategic objectives. At every stage of the process, everyone involved from EWE AG, EWE-Verband and the EWE Supervisory Board worked together to achieve a result that would translate into stability and further growth for the company, and I congratulate them on this achievement.”

Mathias Burghardt, member of Ardian’s Executive Committee and Head of Infrastructure at Ardian, added: “As Europe’s leading investor in infrastructure, we make long-term commitments to companies that play a key role in people’s everyday lives and actively promote the energy revolution. With its activities in the areas of energy, telecommunications, networks, data and mobility, EWE is leading the way in efforts to bring about the energy revolution, while at the same time taking into account the needs of all its stakeholders such as customers, employees and the region as a whole. Ardian fully supports EWE’s innovation-focused strategy.”

Benoît Gaillochet, Senior Managing Director in Ardian’s infrastructure team, added: “In addition to our role as co-shareholder, our stated objective is to develop our industrial partnership with EWE in the interest of EWE employees, society and the region. Together, we want to help shape the energy revolution. EWE is the ideal platform to achieve further growth and we look forward to making further investments with EWE.”

Michael Reuther, a Director in Ardian’s infrastructure team responsible for the shareholding in EWE, added: “EWE’s customers will benefit from targeted investments in cutting-edge infrastructure and top-quality products. EWE employees know that their jobs in a climate-friendly company are secure and attractive in the long term. Both the region and society can rely on a sustainable supplier with regional roots, access to growth capital and innovative technologies.”

Ardian is one of the world’s leading independent investment companies, managing US$96 billion in assets for its investors in Europe, South and North America and Asia, including over EUR 10 billion from 90 German pension funds and insurance companies. Its largest investor group in its latest fund, Ardian Infrastructure Fund V, is from Germany, representing more than 20% of the fund volume of EUR 6.1 billion. Furthermore, Talanx insurance group will support Ardian and EWE as a co-investor in Lower Saxony. For Ardian, its investment in EWE is the starting point for its plans to develop a German growth platform based in Düsseldorf, which will be managed by an experienced team of German managers.

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EWE AG

EWE is an innovative service provider active in the business areas of energy, telecommunications and information technology. With over 8,500 employees and sales of around EUR 5.7 billion in 2018, EWE is one of the largest utility companies in Germany. The company, based in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, is primarily owned by the local government. It provides electricity to around 1.4 million customers in northwest Germany, Brandenburg, the island of Rügen and parts of Poland, and supplies natural gas to almost 0.8 million customers. It also provides approximately 0.7 million customers with telecommunications services. To achieve this, the various companies in the EWE Group operate over 190,000 kilometres of electricity grid, natural gas grid and telecommunications networks. EWE intends to invest over EUR 1.2 billion in a comprehensive fibre-optic expansion over the coming years, creating the foundation for the digitalisation of northwest Germany.
More information on EWE can be found at:

EWE-Verband

The Ems-Weser-Elbe Versorgungs- und Entsorgungsverband (EWE-Verband) is an alliance formed of 21 municipalities in the Ems/Weser/Elbe region. Its core task is to safeguard the energy supply in the alliance’s region. EWE-Verband is the indirect majority shareholder of EWE AG through its investment companies. The alliance was created in 2006 following the merger of Landeselektrizitätsverband Oldenburg (LEV) and Energieverband Elbe-Weser (EEW). As an alliance, EWE-Verband is a public corporation as defined by Sections 7 et seq. of the Lower Saxony Act on Municipal Cooperation (NKomZG). 17 districts and four cities have been part of EWE-Verband since it was founded.
To find out more about EWE-Verband, visit:

Ardian

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$96bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base. Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world. Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 640 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of more than 1,000 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.
Ardian on Twitter: @Ardian

PRESS CONTACTS

EWE
Christian Blömer
T: +49 441 4805 – 1801
Email: christian.bloemer@ewe.de
ARDIAN
Tobias Eberle & Peter Steiner
T +49 69 794 090 -24/-27
Email: ardian@charlesbarker.fr

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DIF Capital Partners invests in a portfolio of LNG assets

DIF

DIF Capital Partners, through its DIF Core Infrastructure Fund I (“DIF CIF I”), is pleased to announce that it has signed final documentation alongside ship-owner Geogas Maritime and Access Capital Partners for the acquisition of a 50% stake in a French incorporated company that will own and operate a fleet of five to-be-built LNG carriers. The remaining 50% will be held by Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), a leading Japanese shipping and logistics company.

The five 174,000 cbm vessels will be built by leading South Korean shipyards and equipped with state-of-the-art LNG fuelled propulsion technology, resulting in best-in-class environmental performance. The first ship is expected to become operational in April 2020. All five ships will fly the French flag. The vessels will be chartered to a large French and a large European utility under long-term contracts and will be project financed under a customary French lease structure.

Thomas Vieillescazes, Head of France, said: “This is an excellent opportunity for DIF CIF I to invest in high quality assets and grow DIF’s footprint into the expanding LNG sector alongside strong and experienced counterparties. We’re also very proud to participate in a strategic project for the further development of the French LNG sector”.

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF is an independent infrastructure fund manager, with €6.0 billion of assets under management across seven closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF invests in greenfield and brownfield infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

  • DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.
  • DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the energy, transportation and telecom sectors with mid-term contracted income streams.

DIF has a team of over 135 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact:
Allard Ruijs, Partner
Email: a.ruijs@dif.eu

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DIF Capital Partners closes the acquisition of 100% of energy platform BluEarth Renewables

DIF

DIF Capital Partners, through its most recent fund DIF Infrastructure V (“DIF V”), is pleased to have closed the acquisition of 100% of BluEarth Renewables LP (“BluEarth”) from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (“OTPP”).

BluEarth is a leading, independent, power producer that develops, builds, owns and operates wind, hydro and solar facilities. Since its inception in 2010, BluEarth has developed and acquired 19 hydro, wind and solar projects across North America, representing 405 MW of gross capacity. In addition it has over 1,000 MW of projects under development. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, the company has been recognized as one of Alberta’s Top 75 Employers.

“We are very pleased to close this transaction,” said Paul Huebener, Partner and Head of DIF Americas. “BluEarth is an attractive investment that will provide attractive returns and stable cash flows to our investors. As we’ve been working together over the last several months, we also see strong growth potential ahead for BluEarth – particularly in the U.S. market.”

To support the company’s U.S. growth objectives, BluEarth recently established a commercial U.S. office located in Phoenix, Arizona.

DIF V was advised by Baker McKenzie, BMO Capital Markets, Agentis Capital, and KPMG. Financing is provided by BMO, Desjardins, and National Bank.

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF is an independent infrastructure fund manager, with €5.6 billion of assets under management across seven closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF invests in greenfield and brownfield infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

  • DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.
  • DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the energy, transportation and telecom sectors with mid-term contracted income streams.

DIF has a team of over 135 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact:
Allard Ruijs, Partner
Email: a.ruijs@dif.eu

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Diab expands in India

Ratos

Diab together with the partner SKAPS Ltd India is expanding in the Indian market, setting up a new PET foam production line in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

India is one of the fastest growing markets for wind power expansion the coming years and therefore a strategically important country for Diab’s position. The PET foam production plant, which is a joint investment between Diab and SKAPS, will produce Diab’s Divinycell PET range products. The material from which the products are manufactured is developed to meet the design for the rotor blades in an optimal way with the aim to reduce the cost in the manufacturing.

“India, as one of the world’s largest wind power markets, is an important market for Diab and we significantly strengthen our presence with the new production facility. SKAPS were chosen to be our partner based on their strong management, proven manufacturing experience and high level of quality,” says Diab’s CEO Tobias Hahn.

The plan is to start supplying the local Indian market already in the first quarter of 2021.

For further information, please contact:
Jonas Wiström, CEO and Business Area President Industry, Ratos, +46 8 700 17 00
Helene Gustafsson, Head of IR and Press, Ratos, +46 8 700 17 98

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ONCAP Partners with Enertech; Tower Arch Capital Completes Successful Investment

Onex

Toronto, Ontario, Salt Lake City, Utah and New Braunfels, Texas, November 14, 2019 –ONCAP announced today it has partnered with the management team of Enertech Holdings LLC (“Enertech”) to acquire the company from Tower Arch Capital LLC (“Tower Arch Capital”).

Enertech is a leading provider of wireless infrastructure services to telecommunications carriers and tower owners throughout the Southern, Central and Pacific Northwest regions of the United States. The company goes to market under three regional brands: (i) Enertech Resources,(ii) EasTex Tower, and (iii) Legacy Telecom, all of which provide network densification, structural modifications, technology upgrades, and repairs and maintenance services. Headquartered in New Braunfels, Texas, Enertech employs more than 470 people across 14 facilities located throughout the United States.

“Enertech is a market leader due to a relentless focus on exceptional customer service, employee safety and technical expertise,” said Edmund Kim, a Managing Director with ONCAP. “We arethrilled to partner with Eric Chase and the Enertech management team to continue to grow the business through acquisitions and organic growth.”

“Right from the onset of this process, the ONCAP team brought speed, incredible know-how and a keen eye for the details. We couldn’t imagine a better fit for both Enertech and the wireless industry,” remarked Eric Chase, Chief Executive Officer of Enertech. “We’ve been truly blessed to work with Dave Parkin, Ryan Stratton and the entire Tower Arch Capital family over the years. Their support and partnership has been a key factor in enabling Enertech to reach this next step in our journey.”“Enertech has been an excellent partner. Dave Parkin and I have enjoyed working with Eric Chase, Justin Jones, Jim Miller and Jim Tracy, while delivering exceptional returns to our investors,” said Ryan Stratton, a Partner at Tower Arch Capital. “The company is well-positioned for continued success and we believe ONCAP will be a great partner for Enertech.” The investment was made by ONCAP IV, Onex Corporation’s (TSX: ONEX) $1.1 billion fund. The terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

About ONCAP

ONCAP is the mid-market private equity platform of Onex. In partnership with operating company management teams, ONCAP invests in and builds value in North American headquartered small and medium-sized businesses that are market leaders and possess meaningful growth potential. For more information on ONCAP, visit www.oncap.com. Founded in 1984, Onex invests and manages capital on behalf of its shareholders, institutional investors and high net worth clients from around the world. Onex’ platforms include: Onex Partners, private equity funds focused on larger opportunities in North America and Europe; ONCAP, private equity funds focused on middle market and smaller opportunities in North America; Onex Credit, which manages primarily non-investment grade debt through collateralized loan obligations, private debt and other credit strategies; and Gluskin Sheff’s actively managed public equity and public credit funds. In total Onex has approximately $38 billion of assets under management, of which approximately $7.0 billion is its own shareholder capital. With offices in Toronto, New York, New Jersey and London, Onex and its experienced management teams are collectively the largest investors across Onex’ platforms. Onex shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONEX.

For more information on Onex, visit www.onex.com.

About Enertech

Enertech Holdings’ companies provide turnkey services in the wireless infrastructure services space, including macro towers, small cell, DAS, microwave, structural engineering, utility towers, technology upgrades, civil services, tower modifications, generator services, and project management. The company is headquartered in New Braunfels, Texas.

For more information about Enertech, please visit https://enertechholdings.com.

About Tower Arch Capital

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT, Tower Arch Capital is a lower-middle market private equity fund. Tower Arch focuses on partnering with and growing high-quality family and entrepreneur-owned companies to deliver long-term value for their management teams and investors. Tower Arch brings operational, consulting, and financial expertise to small companies to give them the tools they need to achieve their full potential. Target investments include control positions in entrepreneur and family-owned businesses with revenue between $20 million and $150 million or EBITDA between $5 million and $25 million. For more information, please visit www.towerarch.com.

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The Carlyle Group completes acquisition of shareholding in Cepsa from Mubadala

Carlyle

  • Transaction completed in line with expectations announced on 8 April 2019
  • Carlyle acquires a 37% stake in Cepsa; Mubadala to remain majority shareholder in Europe’s largest privately-owned integrated energy company
  • Philippe Boisseau to be appointed CEO, taking over from Pedro Miro who will retire

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor, and global investment firm The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) have today reached completion of the transaction announced on 8 April 2019. 

Funds affiliated with Carlyle have acquired 37% shareholding in Compañía Española de Petróleos, S.A.U (Cepsa) from Mubadala.  Mubadala will remain the majority shareholder in Cepsa, holding the remaining 63%.

The composition of Cepsa’s Board of Directors reflects the new shareholding, with Mubadala entitled to appoint five members to the Board, including its chairman, and Carlyle to appoint three members.  In addition, there will continue to be one independent member and the company’s Chief Executive Officer will complete the board’s composition.

In parallel with the new shareholder partnership, Carlyle and Mubadala have named Philippe Boisseau as CEO to succeed Pedro Miro, who will be retiring.  Philippe is a seasoned industry leader with an extensive track record of over 30 years, notably with the Total Group, where he served in senior leadership roles in France, the Middle East, the United States and Argentina.

Musabbeh Al Kaabi, CEO, Petroleum & Petrochemicals, Mubadala, and Chairman of Cepsa, said: “We are pleased to have completed the transaction and look forward to working closely with Carlyle and Cepsa’s management on growing the business and creating even greater value from its portfolio and operations.”

“I want to thank Pedro Miro, especially, for his long and dedicated service to Cepsa.  He has played a vital role in developing Cepsa in recent years to become one of Spain’s leading companies and a business that is looking strong for the future.  I also want to welcome our incoming CEO Philippe Boisseau, who will be leading the company’s next phase of growth. Philippe is well known to Mubadala from his time in the Middle East with one of our long-term partners and we are pleased to have him on board.”

Marcel van Poecke, Head of Carlyle International Energy Partners and Vice-Chairman of Cepsa, commented: “Cepsa is an attractive, well-positioned international integrated energy player led by Pedro and his strong leadership team. We are pleased Philippe Boisseau has agreed to become CEO as he has an impressive range of skills and leadership in the international energy sector. I know he will work closely with Pedro and the Cepsa leadership team in the coming weeks to ensure a smooth and successful leadership transition. Carlyle remains excited about its role as an investor, along with Mubadala, in Cepsa.”

About Philippe Boisseau
Philippe Boisseau is a seasoned international executive who has worked throughout his career in the international energy sector.

Previously, Mr. Boisseau served as President, Marketing and Services, a global division of the Total Group and a member of the Executive Committee of Total S.A. (EPA: FP), a French oil and gas company, from January 2012 to April 2016.  Mr. Boisseau also served as President of Total Gas et Energies Nouvelles (Total Gas & Power), a division of Total S.A., from February 2007 to December 2011 and remained in charge of the New Energies activities until April 2016.  He also previously served as a member of Total S.A.’s Management Committee since January 2005.  He served as President, Middle East of Total S.A.’s Exploration & Production division between 2002 and February 2007 and, before that, as General Manager of Total Austral in Argentina from 1999 to 2002.  From 1995 to 1999, he worked in several management positions within the Refining and Marketing division in the United States and France.  At the beginning of his career, he served in various positions within French government ministries.

Mr. Boisseau is a member of the Regalwood Global Energy Ltd. Board of Directors and has also served as a member of the advisory board of the Energy Intelligence Group since 2018.  He is also on the board of Assala Energy and Enermech, both Carlyle International Energy Partners assets. Mr. Boisseau also serves on the board of I-Pulse Inc. since November 2017. Finally, he serves as senior advisor to Tellurian Inc. a US gas liquefaction Company.

Mr. Boisseau graduated from the leading French engineering school, École Polytechnique, and also holds a DEA (master’s degree) in particle physics from the École Normale Supérieure.

About Cepsa
Headquartered in Madrid, Spain, Cepsa is Europe’s largest privately-owned integrated energy company.

Cepsa is a household name and significant Spanish-headquartered company that has evolved through a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions.  It now operates assets across the full petroleum value chain in more than 20 countries, delivering through-the-cycle earnings resilience and also operates in the renewables sector.

The company’s upstream assets include significant reserves contained in both the Umm Lulu and SARB fields located offshore Abu Dhabi. Cepsa is also a significant oil producer in Algeria and operates in South America and Southeast Asia.

Cepsa’s retail business includes an extensive network of service stations across the Iberian Peninsula and an integrated energy offering to Spanish consumers, covering liquid fuels, gas and electricity.

The company owns and operates two refineries in Spain and has committed significant capital to ensure they remain among the most efficient in Europe and well positioned to respond to the new IMO quality and emissions requirements when they take effect in January 2020. 

Cepsa is also the global leader in the production of linear alkyl benzene (LAB), a key component in the manufacture of biodegradable detergents and the second largest producer of phenol and acetone.

About Mubadala Investment Company
Mubadala Investment Company is a sovereign investor managing a global portfolio, aimed at generating sustainable financial returns for its shareholder, the Government of Abu Dhabi.

Mubadala’s US $229 billion portfolio spans five continents with interests in multiple sectors including aerospace, ICT, semiconductors, metals and mining, renewable energy, oil and gas, petrochemicals, utilities, healthcare, real estate, pharmaceuticals and medical technology, agribusiness and a global portfolio of financial holdings across all asset classes. Mubadala has offices in Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, New York and San Francisco, with a joint venture in Hong Kong.

Mubadala is a trusted partner, an engaged shareholder and a responsible global company that is committed to world-class standards of governance.  

For more information about Mubadala, please visit: www.mubadala.com

About The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across four business segments: Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions.  With $223 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2019, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of our investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest.  The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,775 people in 33 offices across six continents.Web: www.carlyle.com

About Carlyle’s Energy Platform
Carlyle has constructed a broad-based global energy, natural resources and infrastructure platform (currently with $27 billion in assets under management and 95 active portfolio companies), consisting of International Energy, North American Energy, North American Power and Global Infrastructure.

Media Contacts

London          
Rory Macmillan
roderick.macmillan@carlyle.com
Phone: +44 20 7894 1630

US
Christa Zipf
Phone: +1-212-813-4578
Christa.Zipf@carlyle.com

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Ardian Infrastructure signs 10-year power purchasing agreement with Skellefteå Kraft

Ardian

Stockholm, 1st October 2019 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, and Skellefteå Kraft, the North Swedish municipal power company, today announced the signing of a 10-year green power purchase agreement (PPA). Financial details are not disclosed.

The PPA will see Skellefteå Kraft, one of Sweden’s largest energy producers, purchase approximately one third (250 GWh) of the wind power production of the Åndberg wind farm, located in Åndberg/Härjedalen, Sweden, for 10 years. This wind power amounts to the energy need of 50,000 electrically heated households in Sweden.

Ardian acquired the wind farm in February this year for €300 million. The wind farm, which is currently in construction in a project led by OX2 and will be ready in 2022, is one of the largest renewable energy developments in the Nordics, with capacity exceeding 280 MW. The Åndberg wind farm is one of three current wind power investments managed by Ardian’s new sustainable energy investment platform, eNordic.

Ardian Infrastructure’s portfolio in the Nordics, which already includes two wind farm investments in Norway and Sweden, will now exceed 400 MW of gross capacity, corresponding to the yearly energy consumption of more than 600,000 electric vehicles.

Eero Auranne, CEO, eNordic, says: “With this agreement we establish a long-term partnership with Skellefteå Kraft to supply locally generated green power to consumers. It demonstrates the value of strong local cooperation and the commercial viability of green energy. We look forward to continue working with Skellefteå Kraft as we build out our sustainable energy platform with further investments in the region”.

Simo Santavirta, Head of Asset Management, Ardian Infrastructure, says: “This achievement perfectly illustrates our hands-on asset management approach and the industrial expertise brought by eNordic, our local management team. As a leading investor in sustainable energy, we see significant growth potential in supporting the rapid transition currently underway in the Nordics”.

Stefan Forsgren Acting Business Area Director, Power Systems, Skellefteå Kraft, says: “As one of Sweden’s largest energy companies we have a huge responsibility to drive the transition towards a more sustainable society. We see investments into new windfarms as an important part of this transition and are excited to together with eNordic and Ardian make this new windfarm in Sweden a success, while at the same time ensuring that our customers get access to large sources of sustainable energy”.

eNordic, which is the Nordic’s first sustainable energy platform, brings together Ardian’s global investment expertise and transaction ability, with the sector knowledge and local experience of leading domestic executives Eero Auranne and Thomas Linnard.

Since 2007, Ardian Infrastructure has created a sustainable energy portfolio in nine countries around the world totaling 3 GW, including Skyline Renewables in the US (800 MW) and two joint-venture platforms in Italy (460 MW). Ardian Infrastructure’s investment in Kallista Energy, which Ardian sold in 2018, created one of the largest renewable energy platforms in France. Ardian is committed to fighting against climate change and actively seeks to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of its portfolio companies with a view to build a sustainable economy.

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$96bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base.

Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.

Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 620 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of around 970 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

ABOUT ENORDIC

eNordic is the Nordic’s first sustainable energy platform, formed by a partnership between Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, and leading domestic industry executives.

Through a local, responsible and agile investment approach, eNordic enables the transformation of the energy sector through long-term partnerships with those that develop or operate sustainable energy projects in the Nordics.

It invests in opportunities in wind, biomass, hydro and district heating, in addition to traditional energy assets that have the potential to be transformed or managed in a particularly sustainable way.

eNordic is based in Sweden and Finland, with local teams operating throughout the Nordics region.

ABOUT SKELLEFTEÅ KRAFT

Skellefteå Kraft is one of Sweden’s largest energy producers, generating wind-power, water-power, heating and bio-energy. Our goal is a Sweden running on 100 % renewable energy. That is why we only sell 100 % renewable energy and put as much as we can into investments and research. It’s going to be alright.

PRESS CONTACTS

Ardian/eNordic
Headland
CARL LEIJONHUFVUD
cleijonhufvud@headlandconsultancy.com
+44 20 3805 4827
Skellefteå Kraft
Stefan Forsgren, Affärsområdeschef Kraftsystem, Skellefteå Kraft

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The Carlyle Group Launches Boru Energy With Oil Industry Veterans Aidan Heavey and Tom Hickey

Carlyle

Boru Energy will target acquisitions of up to $1 billion, focussing on oil and gas opportunities across Sub-Saharan Africa

LONDON – Global investment firm, The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG), announced today that it has agreed to partner with Aidan Heavey and Tom Hickey, through Boru Energy, a new platform that will target acquisitions of oil & gas assets across Sub-Saharan Africa. Aidan Heavey and Tom Hickey are well-regarded industry veterans with extensive investment experience investing in African oil & gas assets.

Boru Energy’s investment goal will be to assemble a portfolio of primarily non-operated interests in oil & gas production assets. The potential portfolio will be spread across several Sub-Saharan Africa countries and will consist of assets with significant commercialisation potential and where the operator is a high quality national, international or independent oil and gas company.

Funding for potential investments will come from Carlyle International Energy Partners, L.P. (CIEP), a fund that focuses on oil and gas exploration & production, midstream, and refining and marketing in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. CIEP first invested in Africa in 2017, when Carlyle-backed Assala Energy acquired Shell’s onshore assets in Gabon. Boru Energy will benefit from the strong experience and industry expertise Carlyle has in this region and globally. This investment is led by Managing Director and Head of CIEP Marcel van Poecke and Managing Director Bob Maguire.

Aidan Heavey is the founder and former Chairman and CEO of Tullow Oil PLC, an Africa-focused exploration and production company listed on the London Stock Exchange. Under Heavey’s leadership, Tullow grew into a FTSE 100 company with production of over 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Tom Hickey was CFO of Tullow Oil between 2000 and 2008, where he worked closely with Mr Heavey, and has since held various management positions in the oil & gas industry.

Marcel van Poecke, Managing Director, and Head of the CIEP team, said: “Carlyle are pleased to partner with Aidan Heavey and Tom Hickey, both of whom have proven track records of successfully growing significant energy investments.  We look forward to providing them with support and capabilities in order to help Boru Energy as it builds a successful platform for investing in oil & gas opportunities across Sub-Saharan Africa.”

Aidan Heavey commented: “Boru Energy will build on our team’s experience and commitment to investing in Africa.  We will seek to invest to secure and increase production levels, extend field life cycles and support partners and governments to achieve long term, sustainable growth and create value.  We are committed to achieving best-in-class safety, environmental, social performance and transparent stakeholder partnerships. We look forward to working with Carlyle, future industry partners and our team on this exciting opportunity.”
For More Information:

The Carlyle Group:
Rory Macmillan
Roderick.Macmillan@carlyle.com
+44 (0) 207 894 1630

 

About the Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across four business segments: Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions. With $223 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2019, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,775 people in 33 offices across six continents. www.carlyle.com

About Carlyle’s Energy Platform

Carlyle has constructed a broad-based global energy, natural resources and infrastructure platform (currently with $27 billion in assets under management and 95 active portfolio companies), consisting of International Energy, North American Energy, North American Power and Global Infrastructure.

About CIEP

Established in May 2013, the CIEP team focuses on oil and gas exploration and production mid- & downstream, refining and marketing and oil field services in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. The CIEP team focuses on transactions where it has a distinctive competitive advantage and can create tangible value for companies in which it invests, through industry specialization, deployment of human capital and access to The Carlyle Group’s global network. The team operates primarily from offices in London while leveraging Carlyle’s local offices to pursue opportunities across Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America and is reinforced by The Carlyle Group’s regional fund teams and global investment professionals.

The CIEP team consists of 16 investment professionals, all with extensive international oil and gas industry investment and operational expertise. In addition to Marcel van Poecke, it includes Managing Directors Bob Maguire and Joost Dröge, both industry veterans with 55 years’ combined successful energy investing experience, as well as Paddy Spink, Senior Advisor to CIEP, with 35 years’ upstream experience in Africa, Latin America & Europe.

About Aidan Heavey

During his 33-year tenure at Tullow, Heavey developed Tullow into a company that maintains 80 exploration and production licenses in 15 countries in South America and Africa. Tullow is listed on the London, Irish, and Ghana Stock Exchanges. In 2017, Heavey stepped down as CEO of Tullow; however, he remained chairman until July 2018.

Tullow expanded in the 2000s through a series of acquisitions, most prominently the acquisition of Energy Africa in 2004, which doubled the company’s size by expanding Tullow’s production and exploration capabilities across Africa. In 2007, Tullow discovered and began production at the Jubilee oilfield—one of the largest oilfields in Africa—off the coast of Ghana. The company has continued to grow and had an exploration success rate of 70 percent, most recently offshore Guyana.

About Tom Hickey

Tom Hickey is an experienced oil & gas executive with more than 20 years of experience, including more than 10 years serving as a CFO at oil and gas exploration and production companies. From 2000 to 2008, Hickey was the CFO of London-headquartered E&P company Tullow. While at Tullow, Hickey oversaw the company’s USD 1.1 billion acquisition of Hardman Resources in 2007 and USD 570 million acquisition of Energy Africa in 2004. From 2011 to 2016, Hickey served as the corporate development officer and CFO of the Dublin-headquartered oil and gas exploration and production company PetroCeltic International PLC.

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Ardian Infrastructure acquires two photo-voltaic plants in Peru from Solarpack

Ardian

 

The transaction highlights Ardian’s commitment to investment in renewable energy and reinforces its presence in Latin America

Paris, September 20, 2019 – Ardian, a world leading private investment house, has acquired a 49% stake in two photovoltaic (PV) plants in Tacna and Panamericana, in southern Peru, from Solarpack, the Spanish multinational integrated management company. The deal is part of Ardian’s ongoing commitment towards investing in renewable energy.
The plants have a combined capacity of 48.6MW after repowering. The transaction is the latest development in Ardian’s successful partnership with Solarpack since 2016, when Ardian acquired four other Solarpack photovoltaic plants in Chile and Peru. Solarpack will continue to handle the plants’ operations and management services.
The investment cements Ardian’s position as a leading player in the renewable energy sector and will bring Ardian Infrastructure’s total installed renewable energy capacity to nearly 3GW across wind, solar, hydro and biomass in Europe and the Americas. Investing in energy renewable assets is part of Ardian commitment to fighting against climate change and building a sustainable economy.
Juan Angoitia, Senior Managing Director at Ardian Infrastructure, said: “This investment is a significant milestone in strengthening both our commitment to sustainability and our presence in Latin America, an increasingly important global hub for renewable energy. Our investment in Tacna and Panamericana expands our portfolio of renewable energy assets and strengthens our partnership with Solarpack and the high quality assets investment opportunities they provide.”
Pablo Burgos, CEO of Solarpack, added: “The global need for renewable energy sources is increasing day-by-day, so our ability to continue to build, develop and operate solar plants at pace is more important than ever. Our ongoing industrial partnership with Ardian has been beneficial with a long-term investment approach and we look forward to continue working closely with Ardian.”

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$96bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base. Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world. Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 620 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of around 970 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

ABOUT SOLARPACK

Solarpack is a Spanish multinational company specializing in the development, construction and operation of solar PV plants. The company’s team of more than 100 professionals is developing a pipeline of more than 1.2 GW. The company has commissioned 35 MWp in five sites in Spain, 37 MWp in Chile, 26 MWp in Uruguay and 62 MWp in Peru. Solarpack performs the operation and maintenance of the plants it develops, and manages own and third-party assets for a total of 230 MW.

PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN
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