EQT Infrastructure, an investment firm, announced that its EQT Infrastructure VI fund acquired Madison Energy Investments (MEI), a solar and energy storage project developer, from affiliates of Stonepeak Partners.
EQT Infrastructure will support the MEI management team and platform by providing the growth capital required to accelerate the deployment of distributed solar and storage assets.
Headquartered in Virginia, MEI is a leading developer, owner, and operator of distributed solar and energy storage projects for commercial and industrial (C&I) and community-based customers within the U.S. The company has built a leading portfolio of more than 386 MW across the country.
It will also offer EQT’s in-house digital expertise to digitize the organization further and expand MEI’s reach across a broader customer base.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023, subject to customary conditions and approvals.
With the acquisition of MEI, EQT Infrastructure VI, which has a target fund size of €20 billion (~$21.31 billion), will be 0 to 5% invested based on the target fund size.
Barclays was the financial advisor to EQT Infrastructure for the deal, and Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett was the legal advisor.
Alex Darden, Partner and Head of EQT’s U.S. Infrastructure platform, said, “EQT Infrastructure has followed the renewable distributed generation market and MEI closely for several years given the strong thematic tailwinds supporting the sector, prior EQT experience in solar development and operation, and MEI’s strong position as a leading integrated platform in the U.S. We are excited to partner with the MEI team as they build on their strong track record and continue to provide solar and storage energy solutions that are not only better for the environment, but also have tangible cost savings for their customers.”
Richard Walsh, the Managing Partner of MEI, said, ” This is an exciting chapter we call ‘MEI 2.0’ – a transformative time in the industry with strong policy tailwinds, compelling economics for our customers, and ever-increasing demand for resiliency and ESG solutions. Our focus remains on our customers and our partners to lead them through this critical energy transition. We could not be more excited to lean into the EQT portfolio and accelerate that mission.”
In July 2021, the EQT Infrastructure V fund acquired Cypress Creek Renewables, an integrated solar and storage company, from certain funds managed by HPS Investment Partners and Temasek.
According to Mercom’s recently published 9M and Q3 Solar Funding and M&A Report, in 9M 2022, there were 90 solar M&A transactions compared to 83 transactions in 9M 2021.
