Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors continued the expansion of its renewable investment platform with a series of solar investments in the second quarter. The firm also named Jon Levinson and J.C. Frey co-heads of its renewable platform, with Levinson leading the private renewable efforts and Frey leading the public markets strategies.

“The energy industry is experiencing an unprecedented transition, and the rapid growth of renewables is creating attractive, risk-adjusted investment opportunities today and we expect this to continue for decades,” Mike Levitt, CEO of Kayne Anderson, said. “Just like Kayne became one of the leaders in energy infrastructure investing over 20 years ago, we plan on becoming a leader in renewables as well by building first-class investment teams, capabilities and strategies to take advantage of the extraordinary secular growth in renewable power and infrastructure.”

In the second quarter, Kayne’s private renewables team completed the following transactions:

  • Led the $190 million convertible note issuance by Sunnova, a residential solar provider
  • Structured and led the construction loan facility for Centerfield Cooper Solar, a 98MW utility scale solar project in Chesterfield County, SC
  • Commenced construction and closed on the construction loan, permanent debt and tax equity financings for Harts Mill Solar, a 112MW utility scale solar project located in Edgecombe County, NC.

Kayne previously acquired Harts Mill in December 2019, and the project was developed in conjunction with Birch Creek Development and Pine Gate Renewables, which will also act as the EPC contractor.

“We have spent multiple years exploring ways to structure attractive investments in renewable energy and we have established a strong pipeline of opportunities, particularly in U.S. solar,” Jon Levinson, managing partner and co-head of renewables for Kayne Anderson, said. “We are very pleased to execute these initial transactions, particularly in light of the challenges presented by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. These transactions are each different in nature, but they all required the agility, creativity and deep market knowledge that is emblematic of Kayne’s approach to renewables. We look forward to continuing to provide such creative solutions to renewable energy developers as we grow our efforts in this market.”

Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors is an alternative investment management firm focused on infrastructure, real estate, credit and private equity.