Blackstone has launched Blackstone Credit’s Sustainable Resources Platform, which will focus on investing in and lending to renewable energy companies and those supporting the energy transition. This initiative brings together Blackstone Credit’s scale and expertise in these areas with the firm’s ESG and portfolio operations capabilities to deliver value by providing new solutions and sources of capital to companies driving the broader energy transition.
“The launch of this platform demonstrates our conviction in the investment opportunities presented by the energy transition,” says Jon Gray, president and COO of Blackstone. “Companies globally are shifting to meet this demand. We believe private capital is essential to supporting decarbonization goals and our scale allows us to play a major role.”
Blackstone has invested more than $15 billion since 2019 in investments that it believes are consistent to the wider energy transition. Blackstone expects that the firm’s capital deployment in this area will continue to grow. Blackstone sees a potential to invest $100 billion in climate change and energy transition projects across its businesses over the next ten years.
“Blackstone Credit’s unmatched scale is being unleashed to support companies that are driving the energy transition,” states Dwight Scott, global head of Blackstone Credit. “We are excited to launch this dedicated financing platform to build on the over $15 billion that Blackstone has committed since 2019 in investments that we believe are consistent with the broader energy transition.”
Blackstone Credit’s Sustainable Resources Platform is a dedicated credit platform that seeks to address the growing challenges, investment needs and expertise required by this transition. Robert Horn, who has been with Blackstone Credit from its inception, is the global head of the Sustainable Resources Group at Blackstone Credit. Simon Hayden, a senior managing director at Blackstone Credit in London, has joined the firm as a replacement for EIG. He also leads the European sustainable resources activities.
The Sustainable Resources Platform is comprised of more than 30 investment professionals from North America and Europe. It is supported by Blackstone’s portfolio operations teams. Jean Rogers (the founder of Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)), the global head for ESG for Blackstone and Rita Mangalick (head of ESG, Blackstone Credit), have been hired to advise investment teams, support ESG diligence, as well as support other initiatives.
The platform will invest in all credit types, including investment grade credit, noninvestment grade credit and preferred and convertible securities. It will be focused on residential solar and home energy; renewable electricity generation, storage, and products, services and technologies that enable the energy transition; sustainable transportation; green financings that finance environmental projects; and other investments in energy infrastructure.
“We believe large scale and flexible capital are essential to funding decarbonization,” comments Robert Horn, global head of the Sustainable Resources Group for Blackstone Credit. “We look forward to providing efficient capital and Blackstone’s expertise to companies across a range of sectors that we believe are driving this important transition.”