Blackstone Announces Formation of ClearGen and $250 Million Capital Commitment
September 18 2020 - 07:00AM
Business Wire
Blackstone (NYSE: BX), through funds managed by GSO Capital
Partners LP (“GSO”), announced today the formation of a new
portfolio company, ClearGen LLC (“ClearGen”) that will finance and
own distributed and sustainable energy infrastructure assets
(“Distributed Infrastructure”) focused on commercial, industrial
and institutional customers. GSO will initially commit $250 million
to fund ClearGen and expects to expand the commitment as capital is
deployed. ClearGen will be managed by industry veterans with a
combined 55 years of experience, George Plattenburg, Co-Founder and
Chief Executive Officer, and Collin Franceschi, Co-Founder and
Chief Development Officer.
ClearGen and Blackstone will offer flexible capital solutions
and programmatic investments alongside equipment manufacturers,
developers and energy service companies who develop, build, and
operate Distributed Infrastructure. Through these partnerships,
ClearGen will invest in a wide range of assets including
microgrids, distributed generation, renewable energy combined with
battery storage, energy efficiency investments, green
transportation, and combined heat and power plants. These assets
will serve various sectors, including technology,
telecommunications, healthcare, real estate, industrials, and other
commercial and industrial energy consumers.
The market for on-site renewable projects is growing rapidly as
energy consumers are faced with rising energy costs, service
outages caused by extreme weather and natural disasters, and a
desire to improve the sustainability of their operations.
ClearGen’s investments deliver significant environmental benefits,
cost savings, and enhanced energy resiliency to its customers by
allowing them to improve or develop mission-critical on-site energy
infrastructure. ClearGen will offer turnkey offerings and energy as
a service to customers without requiring them to use their own
capital.
“Energy consumers face a range of challenges, including cost and
risk management and the reliability of supply that affects critical
operations. When you combine these with a broad focus on
de-carbonization, there is a rapidly growing need for ClearGen’s
capital and expertise,” said George Plattenburg. “We are looking
forward to partnerships with distributed generation developers and
technology companies, and collaboratively developing flexible
solutions to improve financing alternatives and increase adoption.
ClearGen will finance a wide range of revenue streams and diverse
customers to allow our partners to accelerate growth,” said Collin
Franceschi.
“We are excited to partner with ClearGen and expand Blackstone’s
investments in distributed and sustainable energy infrastructure.
We look forward to working with ClearGen and its industry leading
partners to meet the significant growth in behind-the-meter energy
systems in North America,” said Robert Horn, Senior Managing
Director at Blackstone and Co-Head of GSO’s Energy Group. “Our
initial investment will position ClearGen to offer the full range
of low-cost, flexible capital through credit and insurance
businesses that allows Blackstone to be a one-stop shop for
infrastructure capital needs,” said Rob Camacho, Senior Managing
Director at Blackstone and Co-Head of GSO's Structured Products
group.
About ClearGen
ClearGen is empowering the transition to a more sustainable
energy future. In partnership with Blackstone, ClearGen works with
partners to deliver efficient and reliable energy infrastructure to
consumers. Our consultative approach is focused on reducing
development risk by streamlining the structuring and financing
process to facilitate successful project development. By combining
smart and flexible financing with unmatched industry expertise,
ClearGen will lead the way to a new era of energy outcomes. At
ClearGen, we bring capital to projects that deliver results and
make the world a cleaner place. Visit www.clear-gen.com to learn
more.
About GSO Capital Partners
GSO Capital Partners LP is the global credit investment platform
of Blackstone. Our credit segment, which consists principally of
GSO, has approximately $138 billion of assets under management as
of June 30, 2020. GSO is one of the largest alternative managers in
the world focused on the leveraged-finance, or non-investment grade
related, marketplace. GSO seeks to generate attractive
risk-adjusted returns in its business by investing in a broad array
of strategies including mezzanine debt, distressed investing,
leveraged loans and other special-situation strategies. Its funds
are major providers of credit for small and middle-market companies
and they also advance rescue financing to help distressed
companies.
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Kate Holderness Kate.holderness@blackstone.com 917 318 6818
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