HgCapital is pleased to announce that it is supporting its renewable energy team in creating Asper Investment Management (“Asper”), a new specialist investment manager in which the renewables team will pursue future opportunities in the growing market for sustainable real assets.

HgCapital established its renewable energy platform in 2004, which has since grown into one of the leading global renewable infrastructure groups. When established, there were substantial synergies between renewables investing and HgCapital’s core private equity business.  In recent years, however, investment strategies and fund structures in the renewables sector have diverged and evolved.  Increasingly, renewables investors focus on more specialised and bespoke fund and co-investment structures, with longer holding periods for yielding and lowly leveraged assets, similar to the core real estate and core infrastructure markets. These industry changes provide substantial growth opportunities, but they also reduce similarities and synergies to HgCapital’s private equity buyout funds.

Recognising these changes, HgCapital and the renewables team have agreed a long-term plan whereby the renewable energy team will pursue these opportunities outside of HgCapital, in structures and investment strategies best suited to the renewables market and to better serve their investors’ objectives. As a result, HgCapital is supporting the renewables team in their forming Asper Investment Management, a new real asset investment platform.  Asper will be owned by members of the renewables team and will focus on new sustainable real asset markets and opportunities.

Specifically:

• HgCapital will continue to manage its existing renewables funds (Renewable Power Partners 1, a 2006 vintage fund, and Renewable Power Partners 2, a 2010 vintage fund).
• Following planned future realisations from HgCapital’s renewables funds, investment executives will gradually transition from HgCapital to Asper over the coming years.
• Future new renewable energy and sustainable real assets investment vehicles will be managed by Asper.

In addition to the formation of Asper, from July 2016 Tom Murley will become Chairman of the HgCapital renewables business. Tom will also become Chairman of Asper to help in its formation.  This reflects Tom’s desire to evolve his role having founded the HgCapital renewables business in 2004.

Luigi Pettinicchio will assume the executive leadership of the HgCapital renewables team. Luigi joined HgCapital from Goldman Sachs in 2008 and since 2013 has led investment execution for HgCapital’s renewables business, including much of the day to day running of the team. Luigi was previously at McKinsey and Goldman Sachs, and received his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Nic Humphries, Managing Partner at HgCapital, said:
“Sector specialisation is something we firmly believe in at HgCapital – we have built our business around this central concept since 2000. However it has become increasingly clear as the renewable energy sector has matured that it now attracts different types of capital into different structures than those we focus on in our core buyout business. The number one priority for HgCapital is delivering the best outcome for our investors, so we fully support this gradual transition, which we see as a ‘win-win’. The plan ensures management continuity through a planned transition to Asper, while it also allows the renewables team to pursue future business opportunities in sector-specific investment structures.  HgCapital looks forward to supporting the team in this transition and their long-term success.”

Tom Murley, Chairman of HgCapital’s renewables business, commented: 
“The formation of Asper Investment Management was originally proposed to HgCapital by the renewables team, as the shape of the renewables and sustainable real asset industry is increasingly diverging from HgCapital’s buyout investment management expertise: and in fund management true sector specialisation is increasingly required to deliver the best performance. We are grateful to HgCapital for supporting a gradual transition to the new business and I look forward to continuing to work with the team in their future endeavours.”

Luigi Pettinicchio, head of HgCapital’s renewables business, added:
“The renewables team are committed to delivering performance for HgCapital’s renewables investors, in particular delivering value from the high quality wind development pipelines that our funds own in Sweden and Ireland. We are also very excited about the future opportunities within Asper. Renewables and sustainable real assets are an attractive and growing investment sector and our team is highly regarded in the renewable industry and by our clients, and we look forward to building upon this support.”