Sustainable Financing Trends

On April 6, 2023, KeyBanc Capital Markets (KBCM) successfully closed $91.9 million of Senior Secured Credit Facilities (the Facilities) supporting Competitive Power Ventures, Inc.’s (CPV or the Company) acquisition of an 81.5 MW operating wind portfolio (the Portfolio) from Patriot Renewables, LLC. The Facilities comprise a $75.4 million term loan, $11.8 million in letters of credit, and a $4.7 million working capital facility. Proceeds will be used to partially finance the acquisition of the Portfolio. KBCM acted as Coordinating Lead Arranger, Administrative Agent, and Collateral Agent on the transaction.

Headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, Competitive Power Ventures is a leading North American power development and asset management company. CPV has over two decades of experience developing and operating multi-technology power generation assets, including natural gas, geothermal, coal, biomass, wind, and solar. The Company’s portfolio includes over 7 GW of assets either owned or under management, and over 6 GW of additional assets in development throughout the country.

KeyBanc Capital Markets (KBCM) represented Patriot Renewables, LLC (Patriot) on the sale of its 81.5 MW portfolio of four operating wind farms in Maine to CPV Renewable Power, an affiliate of Competitive Power Ventures. The projects sell energy to a consortium of high-quality commercial offtakers. KBCM served as the Exclusive Sell-Side Advisor on the transaction.

Patriot Renewables is a developer, owner, and operator of commercial-scale wind, solar and energy storage projects. Patriot is comprised of skilled individuals with proven abilities in project development, environmental stewardship, finance and tax equity investments. The company is an affiliate of Jay Cashman, Inc., an experienced, multidisciplinary East Coast construction firm which has executed some of the most difficult and complex projects across the globe.

CPV Group LP, a partnership majority owned by OPC Energy Ltd., has over two decades of success in the development and operation of highly efficient and low emitting electric generation and renewable projects in the United States. Competitive Power Ventures is focused on applying its development, financial and project management expertise to advance the next generation of technologies, including an extensive renewable pipeline, and dispatchable power projects that will utilize carbon capture technology, to yield extremely low carbon power that will help drive the nation’s decarbonization goals forward.

On March 7, 2023, KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. (KBCM) successfully closed $176 million of Senior Secured Credit Facilities (the Facilities) in support of Longroad Energy Holdings, LLC (Longroad) Foxhound solar project (the Project). The Facilities comprise a $166 million bridge loan and $9 million in letters of credit. Proceeds will be used to fund the construction of the Project. KBCM acted as Coordinating Lead Arranger, Joint Bookrunner, Collateral Agent, and Administrative Agent.

The Project is a 108 MW utility-scale solar facility located in Halifax County, Virginia. The Project will reach commercial operation in 2023 and be contracted under a 15-year PPA with Old Dominion Electric Cooperative and Amazon Energy, LLC.

Founded by the former First Wind management team in 2016, Longroad is a leading IPP focused on renewable energy project development, operating assets, and services. Longroad owns 2.4 GW of wind and solar projects across the United States in addition to operating and managing a total of 4.0 GW of wind and solar projects on behalf of Longroad and third parties. Longroad is owned by the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, Infratil Limited, MEAG, and its management team.

KeyBanc Capital Markets, Inc. (“KBCM”), served as exclusive financial advisor to SolAmerica Energy ( “SolAmerica” or the “Company”) on its sale to AB Carval Investors L.P. (“AB CarVal”). The transaction closed in March 2023.

Transaction Overview
KBCM was retained by SolAmerica as its exclusive financial advisor to assist the Company in a sale process. KBCM’s marketing efforts identified the most logical investors for SolAmerica, generating multiple offers for the Company. This transaction demonstrates KBCM’s strong relationships and ability to identify leading-edge investors for renewable energy platforms. The SolAmerica team relied heavily on KBCM’s expertise in evaluating and negotiating the transaction.

SolAmerica Overview
SolAmerica is a leading provider of turnkey solar energy and storage solutions. The Company specializes in the development and engineering, procurement, and construction (“EPC”) of ground-mount, rooftop, and parking canopy solar systems designed to provide solar energy to utilities, communities, and large commercial and industrial facilities. SolAmerica relies on substantial industry expertise, best-in-class materials, operational excellence, and highly competitive pricing. Since its founding in 2009, SolAmerica has developed or constructed hundreds of megawatts of solar projects in 15 states and over 100 counties.

AB CarVal Overview
AB CarVal is an established global alternative investment manager. Since 1987, AB CarVal’s team has navigated through ever-changing credit market cycles, opportunistically investing $142 billion in 5,675 transactions across 82 countries. Today, AB CarVal has approximately $16 billion in assets under management in corporate securities, loan portfolios, structured credit, and hard assets. Since 2017, AB CarVal has deployed more than $3 billion in clean energy investments.

On February 23, 2023, KeyBanc Capital Markets (KBCM) successfully closed $148 million of Senior Secured Credit Facilities (the Facilities) in support of Scale Microgrid Solution’s (SMS) largest renewable energy portfolio (the Portfolio).

The Facilities comprise a $66 million Delayed Draw Term Loan, a $42 million Revolving Construction to Term Loan, and a $40 million Tax Equity Bridge Loan.

Proceeds will be used to fund the construction of the Portfolio. KBCM acted as Joint Lead Arranger, Administrative Agent, and Depository Bank. The Portfolio comprises a portfolio of 17 microgrid projects in California, various northeastern states and community solar projects with an initial total generating capacity of 48.1 MW and 30.5 MWh of integrated battery storage.

On February 8, 2023, Nextracker Inc. (Nextracker or the Company) priced their Initial Public Offering which featured a base offering of $638 million that grew to $734 million after the overallotment option was exercised. The Company plans to use net proceeds from the offering to purchase LLC commons units from Yuma (a subsidiary of Flex, which is the parent company of Nextracker). KeyBanc Capital Markets served as a Joint Bookrunner on the transaction.

A consortium comprising funds managed by Fiera Infrastructure Inc. (Fiera Infrastructure), an affiliate of Fiera Capital Corporation (TSX: FSZ), and Palisade Infrastructure Group (Palisade Infrastructure), has agreed to jointly acquire 100% of the equity interests in Amp US Primary Holdings Inc. (Amp US), a US-based renewable energy generation and battery storage business, from Amp Solar Group Inc. (Amp Energy), a Canadian-based global energy transition platform. KeyBanc Capital Markets served as Exclusive Sell-Side Advisor on the transaction.

Amp US is a leading developer, owner and operator of US community solar and storage projects. Since entering the US market in 2016, the company has experienced significant growth, placing the platform in a primary position within the distributed generation market. With headquarters in Denver, Colorado, the company has built a portfolio with generation capacity of approximately 200 MWDC across 39 operating or under construction projects expected to be completed in the short term. Additionally, the company has a large pipeline of solar and storage projects expected to be developed and built across existing and new US markets. Its management team has deep experience in greenfield development, asset management, offtaker and subscriber management, project acquisitions and financing.

Fiera Infrastructure is a leading global mid-market direct infrastructure investor operating across all subsectors of the infrastructure asset class and an affiliate of Fiera Capital Corporation (Fiera Capital). Led by a team of highly experienced and specialized professionals, the firm leverages strong global relationships, with a local presence in Toronto, London, and New York. Fiera Infrastructure has assets under management and commitments of C$3.8 billion as of December 31, 2022. Fiera Infrastructure has invested in more than 50 infrastructure assets across utilities, telecommunications, transportation, renewables, and PPPs.

Palisade Infrastructure is a global independent, specialist infrastructure and real assets manager with a local presence in New York, Sydney and Melbourne. Their primary focus is generating outstanding risk-adjusted returns for their institutional and wholesale investors by investing in mid-market infrastructure and infrastructure adjacent assets in a sustainable manner. Palisade Infrastructure’s North American infrastructure capability leverages its extensive track record of successful investment in Australia & New Zealand and is focused on the energy transition, digitization and transport infrastructure sectors. It employs a partnership-focused approach with a long-term investment horizon. Palisade Impact is part of the Palisade Infrastructure Group and is a specialist, impact investment manager that provides institutional and wholesale investors with access to investments targeting solutions to environmental and social challenges.

On January 6, 2023, KeyBanc Capital Markets (KBCM) successfully closed $634.2 million of Senior Secured Credit Facilities (the Facilities) supporting Onward Energy’s (Onward or the Sponsor) acquisition of a portfolio of operating solar assets owned by Global Atlantic Financial Group (Atlas or the Portfolio). The Facilities are comprised of a $533.5 million Term Loan and a $100.7 million Letters of Credit Facility.

KBCM acted as the Coordinating Lead Arranger, Administrative Agent, Collateral Agent, Depository Agent, and Issuing Bank. Key fully underwrote the transaction and brought in five banks to form the syndicate.

The Atlas Portfolio is comprised of 11 operating solar assets totaling 1.2 GWDC of capacity across 8 U.S. states and 4 power markets. The Portfolio is fully contracted with investment-grade offtakers with a 20-year weighted-average remaining contract life.

KeyBanc Capital Markets (KBCM) represented Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners (Stonepeak) on the sale of its portfolio company Madison Energy Investments (Madison or the Company) to EQT. KBCM served as Sell-Side Advisor on the transaction.

Madison was founded in 2019 to acquire, build, own, and operate distributed renewable energy projects including commercial, industrial, and community solar and energy storage. Since inception, the Company has aggregated a nationwide portfolio of 386 MW. Madison is accelerating the energy transition by bringing solar energy generation and energy storage to universities, distribution centers, data centers, and other commercial, municipal, and industrial customers across North America. By developing, acquiring, and operating distributed generation assets, Madison is paving the way for customers in the public and private sector to recognize environmental goals.

Stonepeak is a leading alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets with approximately $53.4 billion of assets under management. Through its investment in defensive, hard-asset businesses globally, Stonepeak aims to create value for its investors and portfolio companies, and to have a positive impact on the communities in which it operates. Stonepeak sponsors investment vehicles focused on private equity and credit. The firm provides capital, operational support, and committed partnership to sustainably grow investments in its target sectors, which include transport and logistics, communications, water, energy transition, and power and renewable energy. Stonepeak is headquartered in New York with offices in Houston, Austin, Hong Kong, London, Sydney and Singapore.

EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with EUR 114 billion in assets under management within two business segments – Private Capital and Real Assets. EQT owns portfolio companies and assets in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas and supports them in achieving sustainable growth, operational excellence, and market leadership.

KeyBanc Capital Markets (KBCM) served as Exclusive Sell-Side Advisor to Longroad Energy (Longroad) on its divestiture of a 143 MW portfolio of operating solar projects to EDP Renewables NA Distributed Generation LLC. The portfolio consists of 386 behind-the-meter projects located across 14 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. The portfolio sells energy to a diverse group of commercial and industrial, municipal and utility customers.

Founded in 2016, Longroad Energy is focused on wind, solar, and energy storage project development and operation. Today, Longroad owns 1.6 GW of renewable energy projects across the United States and manages a total of 3.4 GW of wind and solar projects on behalf of Longroad and third parties.

EDP Renewables NA Distributed Generation is a wholly owned subsidiary of EDP Renewables North America, which owns and operates more than 8.2 GW of wind and solar projects across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. With more than 500 projects across 16 states, the company is one of the largest owners and operators of distributed generation assets in the U.S.

On December 23, 2022, KeyBanc Capital Markets (KBCM) successfully closed $600 million of Senior Secured Credit Facilities (the Facilities) for Sunrun. The Facilities comprised a $575 million Delayed Draw Term Loan and a $25 million Letter of Credit. Proceeds were used to recapitalize a portfolio of residential solar assets (the Portfolio) for Sunrun. KBCM acted as Coordinating Lead Arranger and Administrative Agent on the transaction.

The Portfolio comprises approximately 49,000 residential solar Leases and Power Purchase Agreements (collectively “Customer Agreements”) totaling 343 MW-dc of generating capacity across 22 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Cash flows are generated under these long-term Customer Agreements with 22 years of weighted-average contract life remaining, plus payments from performance-based incentive programs in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.

On December 21, 2022, KeyBanc Capital Markets (KBCM) successfully closed $679 million of Senior Secured Credit Facilities (the Facilities) in support of Longroad Energy Holdings, LLC (Longroad) Sun Streams 3 (the Project).

The Facilities comprise a $299 million construction-to-term loan, a $304 million tax equity bridge loan, and $74 million in letters of credit. Proceeds will be used to fund the construction of the Project. KBCM acted as Coordinating Lead Arranger, Collateral Agent, and Administrative Agent.

The Project is a 215 MW utility-scale solar plus storage facility located in Maricopa County, Arizona. The Project will reach commercial operation in 2024 and be contracted under a 20-year PPA with Arizona Public Service. This project represents 460,000 metric tons of avoided CO₂ emissions annually – the equivalent of taking ~100,000 cars off the road for as long as the project operates.