Ardian launches first evergreen fund with focus on renewable energies

Paris/ Frank­furt a. M. — The Ardian Clean Energy Ever­green Fund (ACEEF) is targe­ting € 1 billion for its first invest­ment cycle. As an Article 9 fund under the EU’s SFDR, it is a perma­nent, long-term invest­ment plat­form enti­rely dedi­ca­ted to finan­cing clean energy

Ardian, a world-leading private invest­ment house, today announ­ces the launch of a new open-ended fund — Ardian Clean Energy Ever­green Fund (ACEEF).

The fund is Ardian Infrastructure’s first ever­green fund, offe­ring inves­tors the oppor­tu­nity to grow their expo­sure to rene­wa­bles and the energy tran­si­tion. It is an Article 9 fund under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclo­sure Regu­la­tion (SFDR) and ther­e­fore meets the highest social and envi­ron­men­tal stan­dards in Europe.

More than half of its € 1 bn target has alre­ady been inves­ted in a seed port­fo­lio of 12 wind and solar assets, tota­ling 1 GW of capa­city in Europe and the Ameri­cas. The fund will conti­nue to target mature rene­wa­ble tech­no­lo­gies inclu­ding solar, wind and hydro­elec­tric, as well as emer­ging tech­no­lo­gies such as biogas, biomass, storage, and energy effi­ci­ency. The stra­tegy is focu­sed on opera­tio­nal opti­miza­tion to maxi­mize value crea­tion. The fund targets up to €150m per indi­vi­dual investment.

The AXA Group is the corner­stone inves­tor of ACEEF, and this part­ner­ship perfectly aligns with AXA’s ambi­tion to fight climate change by finan­cing the energy tran­si­tion. As an open-ended struc­ture, the fund will provide a perma­nent solu­tion to Ardian’s clients to support rene­wa­ble energy as part of Ardian’s wider energy tran­si­tion stra­tegy. The launch of ACEEF follows the crea­tion of Hy24, the world’s largest invest­ment plat­form focu­sed on clean hydrogen.

ACEEF port­fo­lio will also bene­fit from Opta, Ardian Infrastructure’s in house digi­tal tool which coll­ects and analy­ses data from its rene­wa­ble assets. The plat­form uses this data to better under­stand produc­tion patterns, iden­tify areas for impro­ve­ment and opti­mize asset perfor­mance, as well as moni­to­ring reve­nues at risk.

“ACEEF is a new inno­va­tive step to provide long term capi­tal to acce­le­rate the energy tran­si­tion. The fund, mana­ged by a highly quali­fied team with a track record span­ning 15 years and a large network of indus­trial experts, offers to our clients a unique plat­form to operate in the rene­wa­ble energy sector with an indus­trial approach. Ardian’s stra­tegy to acce­le­rate the energy tran­si­tion is more rele­vant than ever to fight climate change and to contri­bute to energy independence.”

Mathias Burg­hardt, Head of Ardian Infra­struc­ture and Member of Ardian’s Execu­tive Committee
Ardian has been one of the pioneers in energy tran­si­tion, having star­ted inves­t­ing in the rene­wa­ble asset class since 2007. Across all Ardian Infra­struc­ture Funds, the team alre­ady mana­ges more than 7.6GW of heat and rene­wa­ble energy capa­city in Europe and the Americas.

In the coming months, Ardian’s exper­tise will be further streng­the­ned by the arri­val of a new Mana­ging Direc­tor from the rene­wa­bles indus­try, who will be dedi­ca­ted to the clean energy platform.

About Ardian

Ardian is a world-leading private invest­ment house with assets of US$125 billion mana­ged or advi­sed in Europe, the Ameri­cas and Asia. The company is majo­rity-owned by its employees. It keeps entre­pre­neur­ship at its heart and focu­ses on deli­ve­ring excel­lent invest­ment perfor­mance to its global inves­tor base. Through its commit­ment to shared outco­mes for all stake­hol­ders, Ardian’s acti­vi­ties fuel indi­vi­dual, corpo­rate and econo­mic growth around the world. Holding close its core values of excel­lence, loyalty and entre­pre­neur­ship, Ardian main­ta­ins a truly global network, with more than 850 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frank­furt, Jersey, London, Luxem­bourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Ameri­cas (New York, San Fran­cisco and Sant­iago) and Asia (Beijing, Singa­pore, Tokyo and Seoul). It mana­ges funds on behalf of more than 1,200 clients through five pillars of invest­ment exper­tise: Secon­da­ries, Direct Funds, Infra­struc­ture, Real Estate and Private Debt.

www.ardian.com