Managers

Q-Energy raises €1.1bn, expands remit

The renewable energy investor has smashed its €800m target and is looking at new countries and sub-sectors with Fund IV.

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Q-Energy, a renewable energy investor headquartered in Madrid, has closed its fourth fund on €1.1 billion, surpassing its original €800 million target.

In a statement seen by New Private Markets, the firm said it had received re-ups from 90 percent of the investors from its €416 million 2018 Fund III, and added new international investors. FirstPoint Equity acted as placement agent, and law firms Linklaters and Cuatrecasas provided tax and legal advice, respectively.

“We hope to continue creating great value for [investors], while continuing our efforts to deploy capital into the development of an economy that is more committed and respectful of the planet and future generations to come,” Iñigo Olaguíbel, managing partner of the firm, said in the statement.

The €1.1 billion in equity will allow the firm to put €5 billion to work including debt, the firm said.

The firm has previously invested in renewable energy generation assets in Spain and Germany, but Fund IV will invest more widely across the EU. Like other renewable energy investors, it will also expand its remit beyond power generation assets to include other investments related to the energy transition, such as energy storage, grid network management, hydrogen production and biofuels.

The fund, which held a first close on €360 million in July last year, is already 60 percent invested and committed to “wind, solar photovoltaic or concentrated solar projects projects, located in Germany, Poland, Italy and Spain,” the firm said. Having already acquired aggregate assets with a 400 megawatt capacity and a further 8GW under development, the fund is expected to be fully invested by the end of 2022.

Q-Energy is one of five private markets business lines of Qualitas Equity, a company that was founded in 2003 and now manages capital across separate real estate, private equity, impact and fund of funds strategies, as well as renewable energy. The energy team has been working together since 2007 and now comprises 300 people. Q-Energy has signed up to the UN PRI and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure, it said.