MANHATTAN, N.Y., Dec. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Relevate Power, a leader in the redevelopment of run-of-river hydropower assets, announced its acquisition of Gravity Renewables, with financing provided by funds managed by Apollo (NYSE: APO). The acquisition adds 40 MW of high-quality assets to Relevate Power’s portfolio, more than doubling the company’s power generation capacity and bringing on board an experienced operating team.
This acquisition strengthens Relevate Power’s footprint in the Northeastern United States, where the company’s 21 legacy plants are located, and where it plans to locate its new remote operations center. Along with Gravity’s 15 hydroelectric plants and one solar project, the acquired assets have been awarded over $20 million in grants from the Department of Energy.
“We are excited to welcome Gravity’s people and assets into the Relevate Power family,” said Matthew Wenger, CEO of Relevate Power. “We look forward to working together with our new colleagues and investing to enhance, preserve, and protect these essential and historic assets for the benefit of the communities we serve.”
Goksenin Ozturkeri, Chief Investment Officer and deal lead at Relevate Power, highlighted the strategic importance of the deal: “This acquisition is a game-changer for Relevate. This is the first of many acquisitions in our pipeline as we focus on consolidating a fragmented market and seek to capitalize on further growth opportunities with Apollo.”
As part of the transaction, an Apollo representative will join Relevate Power’s Board of Directors, reinforcing a shared commitment to advancing clean energy solutions.
“We are excited to enter the distributed hydro space and mark the beginning of a broader relationship with Relevate,” said Brad Fierstein, Partner at Apollo. “We believe hydropower is an attractive sector that offers significant growth potential and strong alignment with the energy transition.”
Benjamin Baker, Managing Director at Greenbacker Development Opportunities Fund, an investor in Relevate, shared: “The acquisition of Gravity Renewables is transformational for Relevate Power, highlighting the increasing need for distributed sustainable baseload power in our generation mix. We are also pleased to welcome Apollo to the board of Relevate and look forward to expanding our relationship.”
King and Spalding and The West Firm served as legal advisors to Relevate Power, while Vinson & Elkins served as legal advisor to Apollo Funds.
About Relevate Power
Founded in 2022 from the merger of Independent Power Producers Dichotomy Power and Clear Energy, along with the power marketing firm Standard Power, Relevate Power is committed to redeveloping underutilized hydropower plants, providing affordable, clean energy to rural America’s most impactful organizations. The company is backed by Greenbacker Development Opportunities Fund I, LP. and Aegon Asset Management Real Assets.
For more information, visit www.RelevatePower.com.
About Apollo
Apollo is a high-growth, global alternative asset manager. In our asset management business, we seek to provide our clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum from investment grade credit to private equity. For more than three decades, our investing expertise across our fully integrated platform has served the financial return needs of our clients and provided businesses with innovative capital solutions for growth. Through Athene, our retirement services business, we specialize in helping clients achieve financial security by providing a suite of retirement savings products and acting as a solutions provider to institutions. Our patient, creative, and knowledgeable approach to investing aligns our clients, businesses we invest in, our employees, and the communities we impact, to expand opportunity and achieve positive outcomes. As of September 30, 2024, Apollo had approximately $733 billion of assets under management. To learn more, please visit www.apollo.com.
About Greenbacker Development Opportunities Fund
Greenbacker Development Opportunities is a middle-market private equity strategy that invests in growing sustainable infrastructure platforms serving high-value markets across the US. The strategy is managed by Greenbacker Capital Management, LLC.
For more information, please visit https://greenbackercapital.com/greenbacker-development-opportunities.
