Clean energy projects developer and financier SDCL is expanding its investment portfolio and North American presence via the acquisition of US-based energy transition firm Volery Capital.
SDCL has invested an unspecified amount to buy Volery in a deal expected to enable SDCL to participate in a broader range of energy transition opportunities focused on energy efficiency, the company said.
Ares Management and Folsom Point Funding, which had previously made minority investments in Volery, will continue as minority investors in the combined company.
As part of the deal, the Volery team, led by managing partner Emanuel Citron, and partners Michael Pertnoy and Cort Ahl, will oversee SDCL’s private equity business.
Volery is a growth-stage private equity firm that invests in rapidly growing companies that power the energy transition. Volery’s portfolio includes technology, software and services companies focused on energy transition and resource efficiency. The company also manages several private equity vehicles.
Investment firm SDCL is known for financing and developing clean energy, energy efficiency and decentralised energy projects in the UK, Continental Europe, North America, and Asia.
Volery has been a shareholder, board member and strategic partner of SDCL for several years and the companies have collaborated on several transactions, SDCL said.
SDCL said combining with Volery will support SDCL customers that want to benefit from cleaner, “cheaper and more resilient energy solutions by funding their energy efficiency and decentralised generation projects, as well as the underlying technologies, software and services that are propelling these energy solutions”.
Jonathan Maxwell, founder and CEO of SDCL, said: “We’ve been lucky to benefit from Volery’s support for many years and I am excited to bring them formally into the SDCL group to help us broaden the type of financing options we are able to provide.
“I look forward to seeing what can be achieved in private equity over the next decade as the world moves from making climate pledges to delivering on them at pace and scale.”
Manny Citron, managing partner of Volery, said: “For the energy transition to succeed, we will need to make private equity available to the growth stage companies building products and services that will, alongside important real asset initiatives, enable decarbonisation.
“We are excited to continue to pursue this opportunity as part of SDCL, where together we can create a one-stop-shop financing platform focused entirely on the energy transition.”
Source : IPE