Altus Power, an independent solar power producer, secured an incremental $47 million in debt funding from Blackstone. This total debt will provide long-term fixed-rate financing for 35 megawatts of operating assets in Altus Power’s portfolio. The use of proceeds includes the payoff of the $15.8 million outstanding under the Company’s construction facility, with the remainder as net cash proceeds to be reinvested in the Company’s business.
This incremental financing is an expansion of the $204 million facility initiated in February 2023. The additional $47 million will carry the same interest rate and terms as the initial borrowings, a fixed interest rate of 5.62% for the tenor of the facility and the option to refinance the debt without penalty after three years.
“Blackstone continues to be a lender-of-choice for our commercial-scale solar assets driven by their extensive experience underwriting long-term contracted assets across diverse industries,” commented Dustin Weber, CFO of Altus Power. “Altus Power is fortunate to be positioned with access to capital that enables our Company to invest in and own our assets for the long term.” “These long-term contracted assets meet the needs of our clients seeking high quality, long-duration investments,” added Robert Camacho, Co-Head of Asset Based Finance within Blackstone’s Structured Finance Group. “Blackstone Structured Finance has significant capacity to invest and is focused on finding additional opportunities like those that Altus Power continues to originate.”
According to Mercom’s Q1 2023 Solar Funding and M&A report, large-scale project funding came to $5.3 billion in 62 deals, a decrease of 46% compared to $9.8 billion in 52 deals in Q4 2022. Uzma, an energy service provider company, announced that through its subsidiary, Uzma Kuala Muda Sdn. Bhd. (UKMSB) successfully secured RM225 million (~$48.44 million) Syndicated Islamic Financing Facilities to support the construction, development, operation, and maintenance of a 50 MW solar project. Affin Islamic Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Malaysia provided the funding. The project will be constructed at Lot 4, Bukit Selambau, Mukim Kuala Muda, Sungai Petani, Kedah Darul Aman.
