London-listed Alternative investment manager Bridgepoint Group has expanded in infrastructure with the acquisition of US-based Energy Capital Partners (ECP).
The enlarged group will have an upfront enterprise value of £835m (€975m), comprising 235 million newly issued Bridgepoint shares, £233m of cash, and £179m of ECP’s existing debt.
In a statement, Bridgepoint said: “ECP’s leadership and investment team will continue running the ECP business, investing its funds independently under its current brand and delivering strong returns for the enlarged group by continuing the strategy responsible for ECP’s track record to date”.
ECP, which has raised over $30bn of capital since inception in 2005, is active across North America in power generation, renewables, battery storage, environmental infrastructure and sustainability sectors.
In February it emerged that ECP was seeking to raise $4bn (€3.8bn) for its latest energy infrastructure fund, according to a prospective investor.
Bridgepoint, which specialises in private equity and private debt, said ECP “adds a significant third pillar” to the business and accelerates its “strategy of scaling through both product and geographic diversification”.
Bridgepoint chairman William Jackson said: “Joining forces with ECP is an important powerful next step in Bridgepoint’s strategic objective of building a globally-scaled, diversified platform in middle-market private assets investing. The transaction accelerates our scale, leadership and strategic development, enhances the quality of the group’s earnings and margin profile, and provides greater diversification and earnings growth potential for shareholders.
“We have a high bar for strategic M&A, and ECP is one of the few platforms we have identified which clearly surpasses it, both from a strategic and financial perspective. As well as the compelling financial rationale for the transaction, Bridgepoint will benefit from the investing expertise of the ECP team, while, at the same time, there are significant opportunities for both of us to work together on initiatives such as adding adjacent strategies and expanding geographically.”
Doug Kimmelman, senior partner and founder of ECP, said: “The opportunity to join forces with Bridgepoint is uniquely attractive. Our businesses are not only highly complementary – without any overlapping or conflicting investment strategies – but our firms importantly share a culture of collaboration, integrity and investment excellence making this a highly compelling opportunity for our investors and our employees alike.
Raoul Hughes, Bridgepoint’s Group managing partner, said: “The transaction, which is expected to close within four to six months, will be funded with units in a new limited partnership exchangeable for Bridgepoint shares and Bridgepoint’s existing balance sheet resources, and will see ECP’s senior management and many of its employees becoming significant shareholders in the company.”
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