OMERS signs an agreement with Ares for 100 per cent acquisition of Navisun

OMERS Infrastructure has signed an agreement with a fund managed by Ares Management Corporation to acquire 100 per cent of Navisun LLC, an independent distributed generation solar power producer. Navisun acquires, co-develops, constructs, finances, owns and operates distributed and small utility-scale solar and storage projects throughout the US.

Navisun will position OMERS Infrastructure to further participate in the ongoing global energy transition and it will also signal the company’s formal entry into the distributed generation space – helping bring additional diversity to the global renewable energy holdings, which now stretches across three continents.

CohnReznick Capital Markets Securities LLC served as financial advisor to OMERS. Shearman & Sterling LLP was OMERS’ legal advisor. The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2022, subject to regulatory requirements. Further financial information will not be disclosed.

Navisun, which was launched in 2017 and is based in Hingham, Massachusetts, focuses on solar power and storage projects ranging from 1 MW to 30 MW.

OMERS Infrastructure’s global renewable energy holdings include Leeward Renewable Energy, which owns and operates a portfolio of 22 renewable energy facilities totalling more than 2 GW of installed capacity across the US. In April 2021, Leeward closed on the purchase of a utility-scale solar project platform which included approximately 10 GW of development projects from First Solar. Leeward now has 17 GW of projects under development across wind, solar and storage sectors.

Earlier this year, OMERS Infrastructure acquired an approximately 19.4 per cent stake in Azure Power Global Limited, a leading independent renewable power producer located in India, with an asset base of approximately 2 GW of operational capacity and approximately 5 GW of capacity under construction or awarded. In October 2021, OMERS Infrastructure signed an agreement to buy 49 per cent of FRV Australia, a key solar power producer, with 637 MW of capacity already operational or under construction, and more than 3 GW of multi-technology development projects.