Partners Group acquires Sunsure majority stake for US
Partners Group, a leading global private markets firm, has, on behalf of its clients, agreed to acquire a majority stake in Sunsure Energy (Sunsure), a leading renewable energy and decarbonisation solutions platform in India.
In a statement, Partners Group said that it will invest up to US$400 million in the platform. Founded in 2015, Sunsure has built solar plants for commercial and industrial customers, and third-party renewable power producers in India.
However, under the new ownership of the group, Sunsure will be transformed into a next-generation independent power producer that will build and own utility scale solar, wind, solar-wind hybrid, and battery storage renewable energy projects.
Luv Parikh, Managing Director, Private Infrastructure Asia, Partners Group, said: "Sunsure is a transformational, next-generation infrastructure investment opportunity in India's growing renewable energy sector, which has been a thematic focus area at Partners Group for many years.
“We intend to help companies operating in India meet decarbonisation goals and assist in the country's overall energy transition. Through this investment, we will support Sunsure in executing on its pipeline of renewable projects and assist them in offering new services to C&I customers. We look forward to working with the team,” he said, adding that Partners Group will use its extensive experience in the renewable energy and decarbonisation sectors to work with the Sunsure founding team and management to achieve their vision and deliver value creation initiatives.
The Platform is targeting over 3 GW of operational capacity and will be focused on selling power directly to C&I customers through long-term Power Purchase Agreements ("PPAs").
The Platform also plans to help customers meet decarbonisation and energy cost reduction targets by expanding the scope of existing client relationships to provide additional value-added services, such as energy-as-a-service and carbon credit management.
India is the third largest electricity market in the world, with C&I customers consuming over 50% of the power generated in the country. This consumption is expected to continue rising in line with India's real GDP growth. The vast majority of this power demand today is sourced from non-renewable sources, the statement continued.
Bridging the Gap
Shashank Sharma, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Sunsure Energy, commented: "At Sunsure, we are looking to bridge the gap between the availability of significant solar and wind energy resources in India and the production of solar and wind power.
“Since inception, we have delivered solar power to C&I clients across multiple industries in 16 states. We believe Sunsure's transition into an independent power producer is the best way to ensure more businesses benefit from low-cost solar and wind power in the future.
Partners Group's extensive experience in the renewables and decarbonisation sectors across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, as well as its financial resources, make the firm an ideal partner for the Sunsure platform,” he asserted.
Bharath Rajagopalan, Member of Management, Private Infrastructure Asia, Partners Group, added that he believed Sunsure is well-positioned to achieve positive stakeholder impact over the long term by helping businesses reduce their carbon emissions.
“There is also a strong economic rationale for India's C&I customers to purchase renewable power directly from independent producers such as Sunsure. The government's far-sighted and favourable renewable energy policy, as well as India's resilient economic growth, are additional tailwinds that attracted us to Sunsure and the Indian renewable energy space,” he added.
Partners Group's Private Infrastructure business has US$21 billion in assets under management and has made over 130 investments in 18 countries globally, the statement concluded.
