Edmond de Rothschild PE and PEARL close Fund II at €306m

Paris — The PEARL and Edmond de Roth­schild Private Equity teams announce the third closing of their new PEARL Infra­struc­ture Capi­tal II SCA fund, RAIF, which closed on Febru­ary 28, 2024 with a volume of EUR 306 million. This result comes seven months after the first closing of the fund and corre­sponds to the target of EUR 400 million.

The envi­ron­men­tal infra­struc­ture specia­list and part­ner of Edmond de Roth­schild Private Equity also announ­ces the start of the test­ing phase for the final invest­ment of its first vintage fund, the Green Valley Ener­gie biomass coge­nera­tion plant in France, Edmond de Roth­schild Asset Manage­ment said.

PEARL II has a solid base of French and Euro­pean inves­tors, inclu­ding the Euro­pean Invest­ment Fund (under the InvestEU program), banks, insu­rance compa­nies and pension funds.

PEARL II is an invest­ment fund specia­li­zing in the majo­rity finan­cing of envi­ron­men­tal infra­struc­ture projects in Europe. These projects include rene­wa­ble energy produc­tion, waste recy­cling and the circu­lar economy and are prima­rily aimed at large indus­trial groups and local autho­ri­ties facing the dual chall­enge of ecolo­gi­cal and energy transformation.

PEARL II is charac­te­ri­zed by its commit­ment to rene­wa­ble base load energy carri­ers that meet the industry’s decar­bo­niza­tion goals while meeting the requi­re­ments for the conti­nuous opera­tion of indus­trial and heating networks. The fund’s invest­ments will focus on various segments, inclu­ding biomass, biogas, biome­thane, solid and liquid biofuels for the trans­port sector (inclu­ding AFS), green hydro­gen, geother­mal energy and waste recycling.

PEARL II is clas­si­fied as Article 9 under the EU SFDR, bears the Green­fin label and complies with at least 66 percent of the Euro­pean taxonomy.

In line with its road­map, PEARL fully placed its first vintage fund, PEARL Infra­struc­ture Capi­tal I SCA, RAIF, within two and a half years of the final closing in March 2020. In this context, PEARL has reached a decisive mile­stone for its latest green­field invest­ment after one and a half years of cons­truc­tion: the Green Valley Ener­gie biomass coge­nera­tion plant in the Vosges (France), which will go into opera­tion with the first cold tests. Green Valley Ener­gie, which is sche­du­led to be fully opera­tio­nal in summer 2024, will be the largest biomass coge­nera­tion plant based on wood waste in France with a capa­city of 100 MWth of carbon-free heat and 25 MWe of rene­wa­ble elec­tri­city gene­ra­tion. The plant will gene­rate more than 900 GWh/year of rene­wa­ble energy (elec­tri­city and heat) and avoid the emis­sion of 213,000 tCO2eq per year.

Jean-Chris­­to­­phe Guimard (photo © PEARL), co-foun­­der and Presi­dent of PEARL, says: “Europe is commit­ted to an indus­trial pact to recon­cile the objec­ti­ves of the energy tran­si­tion and re-indus­­tria­­li­za­­tion. In this context, PEARL is proud to contri­bute to the decar­bo­niza­tion of the indus­try with the launch of the test phase of its Green Valley Ener­gie combi­ned heat and power plant and the third closing of its second fund.”

Johnny el Hachem, CEO of Edmond de Roth­schild Private Equity, says: “Against the back­drop of infla­tion, inves­tors conti­nue to place their trust in us. The PEARL stra­tegy demons­tra­tes its importance and rele­vance in buil­ding a low-carbon, resi­li­ent and sustainable economy for future gene­ra­ti­ons, to which our Group is firmly committed.”

About PEARL Infra­struc­ture Capital

PEARL Infra­struc­ture Capi­tal is a private equity invest­ment fund that closed its first fund in March 2020 and focu­ses on infra­struc­ture for the energy tran­si­tion and circu­lar economy in Europe, mainly for indus­trial compa­nies. PEARL was foun­ded by a team of expe­ri­en­ced experts from the energy and envi­ron­men­tal sector and a part­ner from Edmond de Roth­schild Private Equity. As the majo­rity share­hol­der, PEARL invests in medium-sized, non-inter­­mi­t­­tent plants and rene­wa­ble energy gene­ra­tion projects inten­ded for indus­trial compa­nies and local autho­ri­ties. To date, PEARL has inves­ted in eight biomass coge­nera­tion plants in France, Germany and Croa­tia and comple­ted the first closing of its succes­sor fund PEARL Infra­struc­ture Capi­tal II SCA, RAIF, on July 13, 2023.

About Edmond de Roth­schild Private Equity

Edmond de Roth­schild Private Equity mana­ges assets of over EUR 4.0 billion via two AIFMs. With an entre­pre­neu­rial approach to finance and backed by strong convic­tions, Edmond de Roth­schild Private Equity deve­lops diffe­ren­tia­ted invest­ment stra­te­gies that provide a sustainable response to envi­ron­men­tal and social issues. Foun­ded in 1953, the Group mana­ges assets of around CHF 160 billion, employs 2,500 people and is repre­sen­ted in 30 loca­ti­ons worldwide.