A consortium led by infrastructure fund manager Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) has acquired Partners Group’s stake in Japan Solar.
Partners Group said it sold its stake in the 610MW platform of Japanese solar power assets on behalf of its clients.
The Swiss investment manager said the sale generated an equity multiple of 3.2.
It invested alongside Equis Group to acquire its initial stake in Japan Solar in 2013, shortly after the Japanese government introduced a feed-in tariff to encourage investment in the renewable energy sector.
Partners Group and others invested an initial $250m (€202m) to fund the construction of utility-scale power plants across the country.
Partners Group made a further equity investment in Japan Solar during the holding period, making it the largest shareholder in the platform.
Benjamin Haan, a partner and the head of private infrastructure Asia at Partners Group, said: “Japan Solar was a timely project and we are delighted to have contributed to the build-out of Japan’s renewable energy production capacity.
“The successful sale of our stake in Japan Solar ahead of our original exit timeline provides an attractive return to our clients and endorses our strategy of platform-building in markets supported by transformative trends.”
The sale of its holding in Japan Solar is Partners Group’s third announced infrastructure exit this month. In its latest market outlook report, it suggested now was a good time to sell infrastructure assets.
Earlier in January, Partners Group announced it had agreed to sell its ownership stake in Silicon Ranch Corporation to Royal Dutch Shell.
The firm also sold its ownership stake in the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, a cancer research, treatment and education centre in Melbourne, Australia, to AMP Capital’s Community Infrastructure Fund.
