BX Blackstone Inc

By Dave Sebastian

Blackstone Group Inc. said it is investing an initial $250 million in ClearGen LLC, a new portfolio company that will finance and own distributed sustainable energy infrastructure assets focused on commercial, industrial and institutional customers.

The private-equity giant, through funds managed by its credit-investment arm GSO Capital Partners LP, expects to increase its commitment as capital is deployed, the company said Friday.

Co-founders George Plattenburg, who is chief executive, and Collin Franceschi, who is chief development officer, will lead the company, Blackstone said. Mr. Plattenburg served as managing partner at Burton Energy Group. Mr. Franceschi was the manager of commercial development for Duke Energy Corp.

ClearGen will invest in assets including microgrids, distributed generation, renewable energy combined with battery storage, energy efficiency, green transportation and combined heat and power plants, BlackStone said.

Write to Dave Sebastian at dave.sebastian@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 18, 2020 07:36 ET (11:36 GMT)

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