Omnes Capital has held a final close for its Capenergie 3 fund for a total amount of €245 million ($273.2 million). The third-generation fund, dedicated to European renewable energy infrastructure investments, exceeded its target size of €200 million ($223.1 million).
Paris-based Omnes Capital received support from its investor base as well as new French and foreign institutional investors, such as the European Investment Bank, La Banque Postale, CRPN, Le Fonds de Réserve des Retraites, Ircantec, PRO BTP, SWEN Capital Partners and several Crédit Agricole Group entities.
Capenergie 3 follows the success of its predecessors, Capenergie 1 and Capenergie 2, which raised €109 million ($122 million) in 2006 and €145 million ($162 million) in 2010, respectively. The fund targets European renewable energy infrastructure projects. These decentralized projects are developed by key SMEs in the sector, which include wind, solar PV, hydro and district heating. The fund exceeded its €200 million ($214.9 million) equity fundraising target in March, according to a 2016 investment report on the firm’s website.
Capenergie 3 has already made four investments in wind and solar power projects in France and Italy, which are expected to amount to more than 200 megawatts. Additional investments in France, Portugal and Germany are at an advanced stage.
The fund aims to install 500 megawatts of renewable electricity production capacity, create more than 1,000 local direct and indirect jobs, and mobilize €1 billion ($1.1 billion) of investment in Europe’s energy transition.
“For more than 10 years, Omnes Capital’s investment strategy has consistently been to develop clean energy production capacity in partnership with French and European SMEs,” said Serge Savasta, managing partner at Omnes Capital.
Omnes Capital currently has €3.4 billion ($3.8 billion) in assets under management.
Omnes Capital launched its first fund, Capenergie, in 2006. The company has since made 35 investments in renewable energies in France and Europe for a total production capacity of 1.5 gigawatts.