Fundraising

GIP to acquire majority stake in CPV

The US fund manager, which is to invest via its $8.25bn second infrastructure vehicle, will take over the reins of the clean energy business from buyout firm Warburg Pincus.

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US fund manager Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) has agreed to acquire a majority stake in clean energy company Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) from New York-headquartered private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

The transacting parties did not disclose any value for the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2015. GIP invested through Infrastructure Partners II, a vehicle closed in October 2012 on $8.25 billion.

“We are very excited by the opportunities created by GIP's investment. These past five years, CPV has experienced accelerated growth and we look forward to making the next five years even more dynamic,” Doug Egan, chief executive of CPV, said in a statement.

The deal will see GIP acquire equity interests in CPV’s power generation project portfolio as well as in the company’s development and asset management platforms.

“This transaction combines a portfolio of high quality power projects with an experienced management team that has an outstanding track record in independent power development and asset management,” said GIP chairman and managing partner Adebayo Ogunlesi.

Headquartered in Silver Springs, Maryland, and with offices in Braintree, Houston and San Francisco, CPV focuses on domestic power generation with a focus on wind and natural gas. The company currently boasts 6,000 megawatts (MW) of conventional generation projects in various stages of development across North America. It manages a total of 7,550MW of gas and wind power generation assets.

Projects developed by the company over the past two years include the 725MW CPV Woodbridge Energy Center in Central New Jersey and the equal-capacity CPV St. Charles Energy Center in Southern Maryland. Both are now under construction.

The company’s pipeline also comprises the 720MW CPV Valley Energy Center in Orange County, New York, and the 805MW CPV Towantic Energy Center in Connecticut, both of which the company believes will be under construction before the end of 2015. A new round of projects is expected to be announced sometime this year.

The CPV management team will continue to lead the business and develop “value-added investment opportunities in the US power sector,” according to the GIP release.