Blackstone Announces Formation of ClearGen and $250 Million Capital Commitment
GSO will initially commit $250 million to fund ClearGen and expects to expand the commitment as capital is deployed.
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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