Australia-headed Palisade Real Assets, a subsidiary of specialist, independent infrastructure manager Palisade Investment Partners Ltd, has announced several significant transactions supporting the continued growth of its UK-focused bioenergy fund, BioticNRG Ltd.
Palisade Real Assets has signed an initial capital commitment from the Netherlands-headed asset manager APG Asset Management, acting on behalf of its pension fund client ABP to BioticNRG.
The significant mandate the value of which has not been disclosed bolsters BioticNRG’s ability to build value, create a highly sustainable bioenergy platform, and deploy its decarbonization credentials across hard-to-access sectors such as transport, waste, energy, and agriculture.
Concurrently, Palisade Real Assets has announced that on June 1, 2024, it signed the parallel acquisitions of AD Aggregator Platform Ltd (ADAP) and Material Change Ltd (MCL).
These acquisitions build on the establishment of BioticNRG over the past two years and expand its footprint in the organics and bioenergy sector in the UK.
Investing in biogas and biomethane offers a promising solution to mitigate climate change, reduce waste, and provide renewable energy solutions while contributing to carbon-negative practices. We have been working with the Palisade Real Assets team to establish BioticNRG and ensure it fits ABP’s commitment to the energy transition while securing attractive returns for its participants. Their subsequent acquisition of ADAP and MCL brings the expertise and commitment that will underpin our long-term vision for sustainability. We look forward to the further growth of the BioticNRG platform, said Iulia Grosu, APG’s Senior Portfolio Manager Infrastructure.
Six AD plants
ADAP is a bioenergy platform located in the east UK and consists of six operating anaerobic digestion (AD) plants and a composting business.
The AD assets have strong operating track records and includes four gas-to-grid biomethane plants and two combined heat and power (CHP) plants.
MCL is a UK-based AD and composting operator and developer with certified sustainability and ESG credentials.
MCL has been operating since 2003 and currently manages five of the ADAP AD plants and the ADAP composting business.
The MCL acquisition brings a wealth of in-house operational capability across the bioenergy supply chain to the BioticNRG platform.
This will help Palisade Real Assets build, grow, and run AD assets and adjacent infrastructure while meeting the highest sustainable investment standards.
We are thrilled to have closed the APG mandate and signed these milestone transactions which brings together infrastructure asset ownership and strong operational capability within the same organization. The MCL team, led by CEO Ed Bastow, are industry veterans with exceptional experience in development, operation, and supply chain management. Their expertise is key to delivering the growth ambitions for the ADAP assets and the BioticNRG platform, which play an important role in renewable energy generation in the UK, said Stephen Burns, CEO of Palisade Real Assets.
BioticNRG was advised by Stifel Nicolaus Europe Ltd (financial advisory), White & Case (legal), A&M (tax and financial) and Marsh (insurance).
We are looking forward to joining BioticNRG and delivering the PRA vision for BioticNRG and APG. We have exciting times ahead with a pipeline of opportunities and the support of our new partners which will allow us to innovate and optimize for long-term growth, said Ed Bastow, CEO of Material Change.