Australian investor QIC and Cypress Creek Renewables (CCR) have announced the closing of a multi-million dollar debt facility to fund the growth of CCR’s solar and storage project pipeline.
Acting as a joint lead arranger alongside leading lenders including CPPIB and CarVal, QIC has closed the facility that will provide the CCR affiliate with a US$450m (€414.5m) delayed draw sustainability-linked note (the Facility).
The Facility is structured at a holding company level and will be used to refinance existing indebtedness and to fund development and construction of CCR’s growing development pipeline.
The Facility also includes a US$250m accordion option.
CCR’s projects will help meet the increasing demand for renewable resources in the United States.
This is QIC’s first investment by its newly formed infrastructure debt platform.
CCR is one of the largest solar owners and developers in the US, having developed more than 11GW of solar projects since inception.
CCR owns and operates its own 1.7GW fleet of solar assets and has a 12GW active development pipeline.
Its O&M division is the fourth largest in North America, serving 4GW of solar projects across the country, according to the company.
Cypress Creek chief executive Sarah Slusser said: “We are thrilled to tap into more efficient capital to fuel our ambitious growth plans to make the planet more sustainable.
“Building high quality solar and storage projects is our core business and having capital partners dedicated to our mission is particularly exciting.
“We look forward to accelerating our growth.”
QIC principal for infrastructure debt Lindsay Scully said: “Solar will almost certainly represent one of the largest slices of the pie in terms of new capacity that comes online in the US over the next several years.
“With its track record and pipeline, we believe Cypress Creek is a clear leader in the solar development space and also has one of the most attractive operating portfolios, so we see it as an ideal partner for our capital.
“We are especially pleased by the company’s willingness to work alongside us, the other lead arrangers, and Credit Agricole as sustainable structuring agent to implement the sustainability linkage in the Facility.”