Middle-market solar and storage investment fund CleanCapital landed a $500 million commitment from Manulife Investment Management, the firm’s largest raise to date.
These funds will be used to acquire solar, storage, and other US renewables projects in early stages of development, as well as further partnerships in budding markets Guam and Alaska.
To date, CleanCapital’s portfolio consists of over 200 distributed generation projects spanning 26 states and one U.S. territory for a combined 400MW of installed capacity. Projects owned and managed by the company generated 200GWh last year.
“This funding will enable us to exponentially grow that impact through our own 1.4GW development pipeline and future acquisitions and investments,” said Melinda Baglio, chief investment officer at CleanCapital.
“This second infusion of balance sheet capital follows the successful deployment of Manulife Investment Management’s original $300 million investment, announced in 2021,” said Thomas Byrne, CleanCapital chief executive.
CleanCapital secured a $300 million corporate equity commitment from the insurance fund manager in 2021 to support the firm’s growth across the US (PFR, 4/20/21). In total, CleanCapital raised over $1 billion to fund its operation, construction, and acquisition efforts. Most recently, the company acquired a 26.2MW portfolio of solar assets in Rhode Island (PFR, 3/29). It has also placed numerous early bets in states that have not yet enacted solar-friendly policies, but may do so in the near future
Kirkland & Ellis and Baker McKenzie represented CleanCapital and Manulife, respectively, as legal advisors on this transaction.