Augment Infrastructure, a US-based investor, on Thursday, announced a Rs 1,650 crore investment to buy a majority stake in rooftop solar solutions provider Cleanmax. Augment's investment involves the purchase of stakes from an affiliate of private equity major Warburg Pincus and World Bank Group member International Finance Corporation, who are exiting their investment, and also a primary investment, an official statement said.

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It, however, did not disclose the exact stakes bought or offered any details on the enterprise valuation. The company said it will use the fresh funds to accelerate growth in the commercial and industrial (C&I) renewable energy space in India, Middle East and South East Asia. The company has new investments lined-up in offsite renewables such as wind-solar hybrid projects in Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra; and also in standalone solar farms in Haryana, UP, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu to serve the needs of corporate customers.

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The ten-year old company acts as a sustainability partner to leading corporates in Asia by providing them with a range of green power sourcing options including rooftop solar, offsite solar, and wind solar hybrid solutions. The corporates work with the company to achieve their emission goals, and its clientele includes Facebook, Adobe, Cargill Foods, Volvo, Tata Group and Mahindra Group, among others. Today, addressing climate change centric issues are a fundamental cause towards a sustainable environment, and several corporates are already at the forefront, its founder and managing director Kuldeep Jain said.

Jain added that 150 colleagues at the company are also part-exiting on their employee stock options as part of the deal. The investment will help the company consolidate its leadership position in the B2B renewable energy sector, expand to new geographies and focus on organic and inorganic growth, its chief financial officer Nikunj Ghodawat said.

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While the primary capital will support strategic expansion efforts and add around 400 MW of new capacity annually, he said, adding that it is targeting to enhance operating capacity from 760 MW to around 2,000 MW in the next three years. We believe that Cleanmax is well poised to benefit from the strong growth tailwinds in the sector and look forward to working with the management team to build a world class enterprise providing sustainable solutions for the future, Augment's managing partner Darius Lilaoonwala said.

Warburg Pincus' managing director Saurabh Agarwal said it had invested in the company in 2017 when its overall capacity was 110 MW.

First Published:Aug 12, 2021 5:06 PM IST