“Sienna IM raises new private debt fund for renewable infrastructure” – AGEFI

An interview with Géraud Dambrine, Chief Client Officer of Sienna Investment Managers.

The Sienna IM team has been active in the private debt market dedicated to renewable energy infrastructure for over 10 years. More than 40 projects have been financed in Europe, for a total of over 400 million euros, all without a single default. These projects represent two gigawatts of energy generated, the equivalent of two nuclear power plant units, or 37 million tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided. Philippe Garrel, who has headed up this activity since 2013, has a background as an engineer at Engie, which gives him an intimate knowledge of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and thus an excellent ability to source new projects. His team of seven professionals finances projects in the fields of photovoltaics, wind power, storage, mobility and biogas. They target mid-market projects, in the €10 to €40 million range, which offer the greatest impact. A third vintage of this strategy, Sienna Sustainable Infrastructure Debt 3 (SID3), has been launched, with the aim of raising €500 million in private debt financing for new renewable energy infrastructure projects in Europe. Historically, since 2013, Sienna IM has provided its investors in this strategy with an average yield of 550 basis points above the risk-free rate, a significant spread over the yield on investment-grade bonds. To protect against interest-rate volatility, projects are financed at fixed rates. In addition, as these projects are backed by essential infrastructure, cash flows are highly predictable.

Watch the interview here:  Sienna IM raises new private debt fund for RE infrastructure