Vantage Capital leads R635m investment into SolarAfrica Energy

Vantage Capital (www.VantageCapital.co.za), Africa’s largest mezzanine debt fund manager, announced that it has made a R635m investment into Commercial Energy South Africa (“CESA”), a subsidiary of SolarAfrica Energy (“SolarAfrica”), a leading South African energy solutions provider, alongside co-investor, Greenpoint Capital. CESA holds commercial&industrial (“C&I”) solar and battery energy assets developed by SolarAfrica.

The investment comprises a mezzanine facility which was used to exit Inspired Evolution from CESA, making SolarAfrica the 100% owner of CESA.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Pretoria, South Africa, SolarAfrica provides solar-PV, battery storage, energy trading, electricity wheeling and gas-to-power services tailored for C&I clients, helping businesses lower electricity costs, secure reliable power and reduce carbon emissions. SolarAfrica has a strong track record, having delivered ~343MW of funded solar projects in Southern Africa (with a further 1.14GW plus being rolled out).  SolarAfrica has been twice recognised as the African Solar Company of the Year (2021 and 2023) by the Africa Solar Industry Association (AFSIA).

CESA acts as a holding company for C&I rooftop solar and battery storage solutions assets that have been developed by SolarAfrica. CESA currently holds a portfolio of assets with energy capacity of ~90MW across 134 different sites. All assets within CESA are managed by SolarAfrica.

Roshal Ramdenee, Partner at Vantage Capital, said “This transaction reflects our conviction in distributed energy infrastructure and the strength of SolarAfrica’s platform. CESA’s contracted C&I solar and battery portfolio provides predictable cash flows and supports South Africa’s shift to reliable and sustainable power. We look forward to working closely with SolarAfrica and Greenpoint as the platform continues to scale.”

Warren van der Merwe, Managing Partner at Vantage Capital, added “Vantage has provided senior debt to a number of renewable energy projects through its GreenX senior debt division. We are pleased to showcase in this deal how mezzanine finance can play a part in the rapidly evolving power sector. Congratulations to Charl and his team for driving a super-efficient process, which allowed us to close this deal under very tight timelines.”

Nic van Zyl, CIO at Greenpoint Capital, added “We are pleased to have finalised this transaction in support of the SolarAfrica team, whose progress we have tracked over many years. We look forward to collaborating with Vantage Capital on this high-quality solar asset.”

Charl Alheit, CIO at SolarAfrica, added “Vantage Capital and Greenpoint Capital have proven to be very innovative and efficient partners in enabling us to execute the buy-out of this portfolio from Inspired Evolution. Taking full control of the portfolio means we can continue to innovate by bringing more renewable energy solutions, such as electricity wheeling, to customers. This underscores our commitment to making cheaper, greener power more accessible to C&I businesses as part of their green energy journey.”

Step Advisory acted as deal advisor to SolarAfrica on the transaction, Werksmans acted as legal counsel for Vantage. Other advisors to the transaction included Cresco, Ernst and Young, Webber Wentzel and SLR Consulting.