Paris-based private equity investor Omnes has acquired a minority shareholding interest in Danish solar PV provider Better Energy for EUR30 million. This deal marks the first investment of Omnes’s fourth-generation fund dedicated to renewable energy, Capenergie 4, currently being raised. Omnes has announced on this occasion the first closing of Capenergie 4 at EUR380 million (EUR500 million in target size).
Omnes received strong support from its existing investor base as well as from new French and international institutional investors. The European Investment Bank is supporting Capenergie 4 as a cornerstone investor with a EUR75 million commitment, up from EUR45 million in 2015 for Capenergie 3.
Capenergie 4 follows in the footsteps of the successful previous vintages: Capenergie 1, Capenergie 2 (15 per cent investor net IRR and investor net multiple of 2x), Capenergie 3 funds, which raised EUR109 million in 2006, EUR145 million in 2010 and EUR245 million in 2017 respectively. The objective of the Capenergie funds is to provide European renewables developers with growth capital to help them transform into independent power producers. This unique value-add strategy has achieved outstanding returns and has created new market leaders across the European renewable energy sector. Capenergie 4’s investment in Better Energy is the perfect demonstration of this successful strategy.
“Since 2006, the team has been helping to transform Europe’s renewable energy developers into independent power producers. This has been achieved through a unique investment approach that combines private equity and infrastructure. We are very pleased to welcome leading investors and to continue with Capenergie 4 to support the energy transition in Europe,” says Serge Savasta, Managing Partner at Omnes.
“This first investment in Better Energy, and the successful close on Capenergie 4 fund prove that Omnes is one of the leading European players in funding renewable energy infrastructure. As the EU’s climate bank, the European Investment Bank is proud to support Omnes’s ambition to develop independent power producers around Europe,” says Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President, European Investment Bank.
