Partners Group is investing $400m to buy a controlling stake in a US solar energy company.
The global private markets firm, investing on behalf of its clients, said it has agreed to buy the equity stake in Dimension Renewable Energy, a distributed energy platform focusing on community solar and battery storage across the US.
According to sources, the Swiss private markets company is investing $400m (€336m) for its stake in Dimension and expects the platform to grow to over $1.2bn.
Dimension is focused on originating, developing, financing and operating community solar and battery storage facilities across the US and has developed a pipeline of over 180 projects totalling over 800MW of solar capacity, and over 800MWhs of battery storage across eight states.
Todd Bright, a partner and head of private infrastructure Americas at Partners Group, said: “Dimension represents an excellent fit for our transformational investing strategy given the scope to grow the platform into a leading independent power producer that will build, own and operate solar projects, capturing the benefits of scale in the distributed generation space.
“The highly fragmented nature of the community solar market in the US, as well as Partners Group’s extensive experience building platform assets, allows for significant potential to add to Dimension’s organic pipeline through project-level M&A.”
Patrick Langan, a member of management, private infrastructure Americas, Partners Group, said: “Community solar is contributing to the low-carbon transition in the US, and Dimension creates broad, positive stakeholder impact by expanding access to clean, affordable energy for local residents and small businesses.”
Langan said Partners Group will work closely with the management team, to implement the value creation plan at Dimension, including growing the operating asset portfolio, expanding the team, and entering new community solar and battery storage markets.
Rafael Dobrzynski, co-founder and CEO at Dimension Renewable Energy, said: “Dimension is on a strong growth trajectory and we recognise that there is an even greater market opportunity to create an integrated developer, owner and operator of community solar projects in the US.
“We believe Partners Group’s focus on transformational investing, as well as the firm’s proven track record in renewable energy, significant resources, and operational expertise, make the firm the right partner for us as we expand the platform.”
To read the digital edition of the latest IPE Real Assets magazine click here.
