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Blackstone, a manager of alternative investments, and Rivean Capital, an investor in private equity, announced that they had acquired the rooftop solar mounting business Esdec Solar Group.
The Dutch company Esdec, founded in 2004, designs and distributes professional rooftop solar mounting and racking systems and solutions for residential and business roofs. In 2022, more than 3.5 GW were placed on residential, business, and industrial rooftops across the globe.
Esdec CEO Stijn Vos said:
"I am thrilled to undertake the next phase of our company's development with Rivean and Blackstone as strategic shareholders with equal weight. Both shareholders offer their own skills, a combination of in-depth market knowledge, a local-for-local strategy, and the use of scale and expertise to create economic growth and have a beneficial impact."
In 2018, Rivean and the management team bought Esdec. Since the takeover, the company's revenue has increased from approximately €30 million to nearly €500 million. With the statement made today, Rivean is realizing its initial investment and reinvesting from its flagship fund and a newly formed continuation fund.
Maurits Boomsma, the Senior Partner of Rivean Capital, commented as follows:
"At the core of Rivean's investing philosophy, we have supported a strong and ambitious management team on its journey to becoming a global market leader. Together with Blackstone, we look forward to assisting the Esdec team during its next phase of fast expansion and facilitating the global energy transformation through innovation."
In July of this year, Blackstone originally revealed its strategic investment in Esdec. Blackstone has made a number of investments in clean energy and renewables, including a recent deal to put $3 billion into a private renewable energy company called Invenergy Renewables and a promise to give $500 million to a company that makes utility-scale solar technology called Array Technologies.
The company announced earlier this year that it sees an opportunity to invest approximately $100 billion over the next decade in energy transition and climate change solutions initiatives.
The global head of Blackstone Energy Partners, David Foley, stated:
As a leading investor in the energy transition, we actively seek out companies with strong, entrepreneurial management that are well-positioned to benefit from this megatrend and help them fully capitalize on the available growth opportunities, thereby accelerating the energy transition and providing cleaner, more reliable and affordable energy to consumers worldwide.