The owners of Apex Clean Energy have begun reaching out to prospective investors with a view to selling a minority stake in the renewable energy developer, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

Lazard is acting as sellside financial advisor, the sources said.

Earlier this year, this publication reported that Apex’s owners mandated Lazard to explore strategic alternatives including a potential sale.

Ares acquired a majority stake in Apex in November 2021, providing the firm with equity growth capital for its transition to a pure-play renewable energy independent power producer. Lazard led that process as financial advisor to Apex.

Apex and Ares declined to comment. Lazard did not respond to requests for comment.

Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, Apex has roughly 2 GW of clean energy under management, according to its website. The company was founded in 2009.

Asset farmdowns part of Apex strategy 

This summer, Apex was in the market with an 800 MW portfolio of renewable energy assets. That process was being led by Canadian banks BMO and CIBC.

In June, Bangkok, Thailand-based power supplier Electricity Generating Public Company Limited (EGCO) acquired a 49% stake in the first asset from a two-asset portfolio owned by Apex. The 126 MW Downeast Wind asset is the first of two renewable energy projects in the Pinnacle II Portfolio to be acquired by EGCO with the other being the 125 MW Wheatsborough Solar project in Ohio.

EGCO has held an interest in Apex since 2021, when it bought a 17.46% interest in the company. EGCO was part of a consortium of co-investors that participated in the 2021 deal in which Ares acquired a majority stake. Other co-investors included Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company, Clal Insurance & Finance, Menora Mivtachim Group, ST International Corporation, investors represented by Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s Portfolio Solutions Group, The Hartford, Poalim Equity, and IMM Investment Global.

In March 2024, Great Bay Renewables entered into an agreement to make a USD 30m royalty investment in Apex’s 195 MWac Angelo Solar project in Tom Green County, Texas.

Before that, in December 2023, Apex announced it had closed a deal to sell a 75% stake in a portfolio of renewable projects in the US to Italian IPP ERG.

In October, Apex closed a USD 1.05bn corporate refinancing to build out its 60 GW portfolio across the US. That facility comprised a USD 500m term loan, a USD 150m revolving credit facility, and a USD 400m letter of credit facility.