Brookfield Renewable, part of Canadian alternative asset manager Brookfield Asset Management Inc., has struck a deal to acquire a majority stake in Mumbai-based renewable energy firm CleanMax Enviro Energy Solutions.
Brookfield is making an equity investment of $360 million (about Rs 2,970 crore) through a secondary purchase of shares from existing shareholders and primary capital infusion, CleanMax said in a statement Thursday. It didn't specify the size of the stake Brookfield acquired.
The Canadian firm is investing in CleanMax through the Brookfield Global Transition Fund, its impact fund focusing on investments to accelerate transition to a net-zero carbon economy.
The deal will allow CleanMax to pursue its growth plans of becoming a 5-gigawatt platform over the next three to four years, the company said. CleanMax’s existing management will continue to lead the company. For Brookfield, the transactions deepens its presence in India where it has deployed billions of dollars across infrastructure, real estate and other sectors.
“This will see us have adequate growth capital for at least the next three-four years,” said Kuldeep Jain, founder and managing director, CleanMax, adding that it expects to add about 800-1,000 MW annually to its commercial and industrial (C&I) portfolio.
The company said it is also looking to explore additional growth avenues in the corporate renewable energy space and to assess and pursue other drivers for value creation.
CleanMax, founded in 2011, provides renewable energy to over 350 corporations in Asia. In 2021, US investment firm Augment Infrastructure acquired a majority stake in the company for Rs 1,650 crore ($222 million) from Warburg Pincus and International Finance Corporation (IFC). Warburg had invested as much as $100 million in the firm in 2017.
The renewable energy company manages more than 1.6 GW of operating wind and solar projects and supplies over 3,076 GWh of green energy every year.
“CleanMax has a proven track record of being an efficient partner to C&I customers, enabling them to achieve their decarbonization targets,” said Nawal Saini, Managing Director, Renewable Power & Transition, Brookfield.
Brookfield Renewable operates a portfolio that includes hydroelectric, wind, utility-scale solar and storage facilities in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. The company’s chief executive, Connor Teskey, and Mark Carney, Head of Transition Investing, co-lead the $15 billion Brookfield Global Transition Fund.