Talks are underway for Bain Capital to purchase the majority of Vibrant Energy

20 Dec 2023 , 09:59 AM

According to news reports, Macquarie Capital and private equity investor Bain Capital are in negotiations to buy the bulk of Vibrant Energy, which supplies green power to businesses and industries.

‘Bain is presently researching the company thoroughly. One of the previously mentioned sources stated, ‘A final offer is still some time away.’

According to the report, the company has an enterprise value of almost $500 million and is expected to fetch an equity value of about $200 million.

‘Several bulge bracket private equity companies have previously assessed more C&I properties. PE funds are eager to get involved in the energy transition and are investigating a range of options, including C&I,’ the report stated.

With an active pipeline of 3GW, Vibrant Energy, which mainly supplies power to corporate and industrial (C&I) clients, manages a 132MW renewable energy portfolio. For business clients, the group creates open access solar and wind energy solutions. Blueleaf Energy, a portfolio business of Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG), owns approximately 70% of Vibrant Energy; ATN International, a US-based corporation, owns the remaining portion.

Blueleaf Energy Asia Pte made its entry into India in 2020 when it bought the bulk of Vibrant Energy Holdings from ATN International (ATN).

Blueleaf Energy is developing more than 7GW worth of solar, wind, and storage projects worldwide. Globally, Macquarie’s GIG is developing a portfolio of more over 85 GW in 25 markets.

The energy transformation is a significant and long-term theme that will see significant investments over the next ten years, according to Pavaninder Singh, Partner – Private Equity at Bain Capital, who spoke with ET in November. Bain is also eager to place opportunistic bets in this area.

Bain made an investment in EcoCeres, a biofuels company, last year as part of the energy transition market. The wind farm developer Japan Wind Development Co. Ltd. was acquired by management in 2015 under the direction of Bain Capital. According to Reuters on December 12, the company is being acquired by the Japanese civil engineering group Infroneer Holdings from Bain Capital for an approximate sum of $1.4 billion.

‘We do have a look at that area, but it seems to be more discerning. Much of the capital in the clean energy and infrastructure space chases transactions with return profiles that diverge from our own. Thus, I believe that even if we’re eager to explore the wider theme, we will be more careful about the venues we play in,’ Singh stated to sources in November.

With a $7.1 billion corpus, Bain Capital raised its fifth Asian private equity fund this month, making it the largest PE fund with an Asia focus to be raised in 2023.

According to a recent analysis by energy analyst firm Bridge To India, the Commercial and Industrial (C&I) renewables sector in India is predicted to increase by 47GW over the next five years. According to the survey, 51% of the nation’s overall consumption is accounted for by corporate clients.

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