Investec Capital Services India, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and Dua & Associates were advisors to Fourth Partner Energy and TPG for this transaction, while Avendus Capital and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas advised Norfund for the same.
Hyderabad-based Fourth Partner Energy on Wednesday said it has raised USD 125 million from Norwegian investment fund, Norfund and existing shareholder The Rise Fund.
Norfund will infuse USD 100 million and TPG’s global impact investing platform, The Rise Fund, will put in an additional USD 25 million in the current round, the company said in a statement adding the funds will be utilized towards business expansion across Indian and international markets.
The Rise Fund had invested USD 70 million in July 2018.
The company, however, did not disclose how much equity share would the investment translate into.
‘After establishing itself as the market leader for distributed solar solutions to corporate India, Fourth Partner Energy is now strengthening its onsite and offsite solar presence in the subcontinent; as well as key markets across South and Southeast Asia,’ it said.
The company is targeting 3 GW of installed solar capacity by 2025, and expansion of capabilities across energy storage, EV charging infrastructure.
Talking about the new partnership and utilization of funds, Vivek Subramanian, co-founder and executive director at Fourth Partner Energy said Norfund is an established, long-term, institutional investor with a strong global clean energy portfolio, committed to driving impact.
‘We are keen on leveraging this round of funding and their expertise to further cement our leadership position. We also believe the Commercial and Industrial (C&I) solar market in India is ripe for consolidation and are actively pursuing acquisition opportunities on this front,’ he said.
Anders Blom, Vice President at Norfund, said across Asia, Africa and Central America, Norfund has invested in and with companies like Globeleq, Scatec, Berkeley Energy Commercial and Industrial Solutions, d.Light and Yoma Micropower – which prioritize profitability while simultaneously addressing climate change, poverty alleviation and employment generation.
‘Fourth Partner Energy is enabling decarbonization of the C&I sector in one of the most pivotal global markets,’ he said. ‘We look forward to working with their core team and Rise Fund in helping achieve Fourth Partner’s 3 GW target by 2025,’ he added.
Ankur Thandani, Business Unit Partner at The Rise Fund said the fund’s mission is to back businesses that help solve global issues like climate change while delivering attractive returns on investment.
‘Since our initial investment, Fourth Partner has built a world-class team that consistently delivers strong fundamentals while focusing on high-quality customers and carbon aversion. We are excited to be investing additional capital into this platform and continuing to build an industry-leading distributed solar energy business in India,’ he said.
Investec Capital Services India, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and Dua & Associates were advisors to Fourth Partner Energy and TPG for this transaction, while Avendus Capital and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas advised Norfund for the same.
In April 2021, Fourth Partner Energy secured a USD 33 million line of mezzanine funding from the CDC Group, prior to which in 2020 the company announced a USD 15-million round of funding from Swiss climate action fund ResponsAbility and a USD 16-million investment from a consortium of European lenders, led by Symbiotics.
To date, Fourth Partner Energy manages a portfolio of 550 MW across its distributed and open access solar portfolios.
The company has commenced operations across Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Vietnam.
In Indonesia, Fourth Partner Energy (4PEL) has tied up with integrated energy major Indika Energy to offer solar solutions to corporates there.
(PTI)
Source: Business World
