Magnetar Capital has invested an undisclosed amount to buy Lendlease’s US renewable energy business.
The $12bn (€10bn) alternative asset manager, in partnership with Lendlease’s Dallas-based leadership team, has bought the North American renewable energy development business and rebranded the acquired company as Vesper Energy.
Founded in 2015, Vesper Energy has commercialised over 680MW of solar projects in the US and has an existing 3GW solar and 2.5 GWh energy storage development pipeline.
Craig Rohr, managing director at Magnetar Capital, said: “Magnetar is excited to partner with Vesper Energy to support its continued growth and long-term plans to play a key role in the buildout of renewable power and energy storage infrastructure across North America.”
Adam Daley, co-head of energy and infrastructure at Magnetar Capital said: “We are excited to extend Magnetar’s existing renewables franchise into the rapidly growing utility-scale solar and storage market in North America.
“This investment complements our existing solar portfolio companies and reflects our continued commitment to providing growth capital to businesses actively reducing carbon emissions.”
Vesper Energy CEO Craig Carson, said: “We’re thrilled to partner with Magnetar to strategically grow our renewables business across the US and shape Vesper Energy’s strategy as a standalone company.
“We have the right team, high-quality renewable energy assets, and client and community partnerships in place to be a leader in North America’s transformation to a clean energy future.”
Denis Hickey, CEO of Lendlease Americas, said this divestment is in line with Lendlease’s global strategy to recycle capital and focus on the delivery of the company’s $80bn pipeline of development projects across the world.
“Growing a successful renewable energy business in the US has been rewarding, and we are glad to see it now in a position where it can continue to grow and flourish as the industry evolves.”
This energy business sale follows the recent announcement that Lendlease, as part of its broader capital strategy, sold its US telecommunications platform to Apollo Global Management.
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