SUMMIT, NJ (July 31, 2019) -Nautilus Solar Energy, LLC (“Nautilus”), a leading US solar developer and asset manager, is pleased to announce its acquisition by Power Energy Corporation (“Power Energy” or “PEC”), a subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada, a diversified management and holding company (TSX:POW). The 100% acquisition from management and Virgo Investment Group brings together PEC’S financial strength and commitment to long-term asset ownership with Nautilus’s well-established platform for acquisition, development, construction, finance and asset management to propel the company’s further expansion into key community solar markets throughout the US.
The current management team is excited to lead the company under the new ownership, with Jim Rice and Laura Stern as co-CEOs and Jeffrey Cheng as President. “This transaction supports Nautilus’s established strategy of acquiring, developing, financing, owning and managing solar assets throughout the US, with a focus on community solar markets. PEC’s acquisition will not only provide Nautilus with competitive capital, but also the capabilities to accelerate growth to achieve greater scale in the market,” comments Jim Rice, co-CEO. “Our investment into Nautilus is truly aligned with our philosophy of supporting entrepreneurial teams in achieving our long-term value creation model. We have the highest confidence in the team’s ability to lead the company through the evolving community solar sector,” notes Pierre-Olivier Perras, President of Power Energy.
The company will continue to manage the solar portfolio developed with Virgo Investment Group. “We are excited to reach this milestone with Nautilus after having partnered with the management team for the past four years to build one of the country’s leading community solar developers at the nascent stages of the community solar sector. We look forward to a continued strong relationship with Nautilus as the developer and asset manager of Virgo’s portfolio of 80 MWs of C&I and community solar serving over 2,000 customers in eight states,” said Eli Aheto, Partner of Virgo Investment Group.
About Nautilus Solar Energy
Founded in 2006, Nautilus Solar Energy is a leading national solar acquisition, development and asset management company headquartered in Summit, NJ. Nautilus focuses on acquiring, developing, executing and managing distributed and utility-scaled generation solar projects. Since its inception, Nautilus has invested over $1 billion in capital and provides asset management services to distributed, community solar and utility projects throughout North America. Join Nautilus on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and visit www.nautilussolar.com or email info@nautilussolar.com for more information.
About Power Energy
Power Energy is a wholly owned subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada that actively manages investments in the sustainable and renewable energy sector with the goal of building and owning, over the long term, companies that can generate growing and stable cash flows. Power Energy invests in companies that benefit from the global energy transformation and currently has invested in companies that develop, own and operate solar and wind generating assets in North America as well as companies operating in the sustainable sector. For more information: www.powerenergycorporation.com
About Virgo Investment Group
Founded in 2009, Virgo is a thematic investor with the mission of building meaningful businesses. Virgo partners with Founder-led or Family-owned businesses where both existing owners and management have a material equity stake in the business. Virgo targets companies undergoing industry or company-specific change, which are executing on an identified inflection point in value. Virgo has flexible capital that allows the Firm to provide differentiated solutions. Virgo is an actively engaged investor, driving value-add initiatives post-investment via a focus on human capital transformation, business process enhancement, and technology implementation through the Firm’s Spica Alpha Unit. The Firm has invested over $1.2 billion, completing 58 investments to date.