CIT Group’s Power and Energy business served as coordinating lead arranger for $140 million in debt financing to support construction of Lotus Solar Farm, a 67-megawatt solar project in Madera, CA. Concurrently, the project was sold to Allianz Global Investors by 8minute Solar Energy.
When completed, the Lotus Solar Farm, now under construction, will produce enough energy for more than 12,000 local homes and businesses and will reduce carbon emissions by approximately 48,000 metric tons each year.
CIT led the financing along with NORD/LB, which served as co-lead and joint lead arranger.
“We were pleased to support AllianzGI and 8minute in advancing the Lotus solar project while adding to our portfolio of clean energy financings across the U.S.,” said Mike Lorusso, managing director and group head for CIT’s Power and Energy unit.
“As California continues to lead the transition to 100% clean energy, projects such as the Lotus Solar Farm will be instrumental in providing dependable and affordable solar power,” said Tom Buttgenbach, president and CEO of 8minute Solar Energy. “We greatly appreciated the agility and expertise of CIT’s Power and Energy team in leading the financing for this exciting new project.”
Allianz Global Investors is an active asset manager with more than 790 investment professionals in 25 offices worldwide and $619 billion in assets under management for individuals, families and institutions.
8minute Solar Energy is based in Los Angeles and is the largest private solar and storage developer in the U.S. 8minute has over 14 gigawatts of solar and storage under development in California, the Southwest, Texas and the Southeast while also having brought more than 2 gigawatts of solar power plants into operation.
