EQT Infrastructure, investing on behalf of its latest global infrastructure fund, is buying a US solar distributed generation platform from Stonepeak.

The manager’s EQT Infrastructure VI fund has agreed to acquire Madison Energy Investments (MEI), a company that develops and operates distributed solar and energy storage projects for commercial and industrial and community-based customers.

MEI was founded in 2019 and has so far built a portfolio of more than 386MW across the US.

EQT said the deal, expected to close in the first quarter of next year, represents up to 5% of EQT Infrastructure VI, a fund seeking to raise €20bn.

The predecessor fund, EQT Infrastructure V, which raised €15.7bn at its close in November last year, is around 80-85% and continues to be in its commitment period, the manager said.

Alex Darden, partner and head of EQT’s US infrastructure platform, said, “EQT Infrastructure has followed the renewable distributed generation market and MEI closely for several years given the strong thematic tailwinds supporting the sector, prior EQT experience in solar development and operation, and MEI’s strong position as a leading integrated platform in the US.

“The renewable generation sector is an increasingly important part of the energy transition, and we are excited to partner with the MEI team as they build on their strong track record and continue to provide solar and storage energy solutions that are not only better for the environment, but also have tangible cost savings for their customers.”

Richard Walsh, managing partner of MEI, said, “We are looking forward to partnering with EQT’s US infrastructure platform. EQT’s team, experience and growth mindset make them the ideal partner to amplify our business in achieving new heights in clean energy.”

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