BlackRock Evergreen Fund secures $1bn and acquires US solar-battery platform

BlackRock’s Evergreen Infrastructure fund has secured almost $1 billion in client commitments from European founding partners and has reached a deal to acquire a US commercial and industrial (C&I) solar and battery platform “well positioned for the energy transition”.

The cornerstone commitments to Evergreen Infrastructure come from investors including Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest bank, and Inarcassa, the first pillar pension scheme for Italian engineers and architects.. Western Europe, including Italy, is a key region for the Fund, with 50-60 per cent of the total portfolio expected to be allocated to the region.

The fund has signed definitive documentation to acquire, subject to customary closing conditions, Lighthouse, a US C&I solar and battery storage platform with an operating portfolio spanning six US states that capitalises on the growing demand for distributed renewable energy, which is supported by the recently enacted US Inflation Reduction Act.

Announced in June 2022, Evergreen Infrastructure is a core, open-ended infrastructure equity fund that focuses on investing in infrastructure businesses in Europe and North America aligned with the themes of energy transition and energy security. It seeks to deliver investors “consistent long-term cash yield and resilient inflation-linked, fully contracted returns by investing in a portfolio of core infrastructure businesses diversified across geographies and sectors”, BlackRock said. In addition to energy transition and energy security, the fund will also focus on thematic sectors including transportation, digital infrastructure and the circular economy.

Blackrock said the fund’s open-ended structure enables it to be a long-term partner for infrastructure businesses “looking for financing to support their evolution and growth through the decades-long energy transition”. It will work with portfolio companies to help implement decarbonisation activities and actively track, assess, and report on progress over time. Evergreen Infrastructure will also track Temperature Alignment Key Performance Indicators, which will help the portfolio management team align the fund, on an aggregate basis, to a 1.5°C temperature rise scenario, Blackrock said.

Anne Valentine Andrews, global head of infrastructure and real estate at BlackRock, said: “In today’s evolving energy landscape, companies are looking for capital that will partner with them as they adapt their businesses and navigate an accelerating long-term shift towards a lower-carbon economy. Evergreen’s forward-looking lens, partnership approach, and focus on core businesses and assets is designed to help investors capitalise on these dynamics, while supporting the sustainable growth of essential infrastructure.”

Flavio Gianetti, executive director of M&A and group shareholdings at Intesa Sanpaolo, said: “BlackRock's new fund will span Europe and North America, regions teeming with opportunities for the construction or revitalisation of sustainable telecommunications, digital, energy, gas storage, and renewable energy infrastructure.”

Inarcassa president Giuseppe Santoro, said: “By choosing financial policies that secure the pension future of our members, we are not only seeking to maximise returns; by joining BlackRock’s Evergreen Infrastructure fund we are entering a network of institutional investors who are active in supporting the transformation of an evolving, low-carbon economy, while promoting the wellbeing of communities and the environment.”

‍