Fundraising

Goldman energy spinout seeking $2.25bn

Energy Capital Partners is seeking up to $2.25 billion for its debut fund, more than twice as much as originally expected when Goldman Sachs vet Douglas Kimmelman launched the firm last summer.

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When Goldman Sachs vet Douglas Kimmelman launched Energy Capital Partners last summer it was expected that the fledgling firm would aim to raise as much as $1 billion for its debut fund. Demand for the vehicle has apparently been brisk, as the firm is now seeking as much as $2.25 billion (€1.89 billion), according to SEC filings, and has already corralled more than $900 million in limited partner commitments.

Kimmelman: Energy Capital has set a $2.25bn cap for its first fund according to SEC filings.

Early backers in the fund include the British Columbia Investment Management Corp. (bcIMC), the University of Chicago, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the University of Notre Dame du Lac and the University of Virginia Investment Management Company, among others.

While the firm has capped its fund at $2.25 billion, Energy Capital has specified $1.5 billion as the target on the cover of its PPM.

Joining Kimmelman at the firm is Orion Power Holdings co-founder Scott Helm and Thomas Lane, who also jumped over from Goldman Sachs.

According to reports, Energy Capital, with offices in New Jersey, will seek out investments in US power plants and power transmission, electric and natural gas distribution companies, and gas pipeline and storage assets.

At Goldman Sachs, Kimmelman’s legacy was growing out the firm’s merchant electricity business. He headed buyouts of various assets, including deals for Zilkha Renewable Energy and Linden Cogeneration.

The news of Energy Capital’s fund comes just one week after Boston-based ArcLight Capital Partners, also an energy specialist, indicated it too was raising $2.25 billion for its latest fund.

The sector has been especially popular in the past twelve months, as The Carlyle Group is currently raising its latest Carlyle/Riverstone energy vehicle, while groups such as Tenaska, Lime Rock and Energy Investors Funds, among others, have also closed new vehicles.

Greenwich, Connecticut-based Atlantic-Pacific Capital is serving as placement agent for the Energy Capital fund.

Calls to the firm were not returned by press time.