Mirova acquires SunFunder to drive global impact investing ambition

BY Business a.m.

Mirova, a management company dedicated to sustainable investment, has announced the acquisition of SunFunder to help accelerate its ambition to become a global leader in impact investing.

Mirova acquired 100 percent of SunFunder’s equity on June 3, 2022 and is looking to use SunFunder’s teams and expertise to strengthen its local investment and execution capabilities for its private assets strategies.

The acquisition of SunFunder, a private debt management company that finances renewable energy projects in Africa and Asia, is a major step in Mirova’s development strategy in real assets. The move will help Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers dedicated to impact investing, to expand its emerging markets investment platform in which the Singapore office created in 2021 will be integrated.

A key objective for Mirova is financing the environmental and energy transition, and Philippe Zaouati, its CEO, said having a local presence in emerging countries is critical in order to thoroughly address the challenges that come with the fight against global warming and social inequalities.

“We are delighted that SunFunder’s teams, with their proven experience and expertise, are joining us. Together, we will pursue our efforts to meet the needs of the real economy and increase the impact of our investments,” Zaouati said.

SunFunder was founded in 2012 as a crowdfunding platform. Its main objective was to offer financing solutions for the decentralised solar energy sector in Africa, in order to achieve direct impact at the intersection of climate change and inequality. Since then, the company has launched a series of innovative blended finance investment vehicles and closed over $165 million in investments across 58 companies deploying clean energy mainly in Africa and Asia, such as off-grid solar home systems in Malawi, village mini-grid projects in Kenya, and commercial and industrial rooftop installations in Nigeria and Thailand. SunFunder has helped improve access to solar energy for more than 10 million people, predominantly in East and West Africa, before extending its expertise to other emerging markets, including Southeast Asia.

The entire SunFunder team will be retained in order to keep expanding their high impact energy transition work and, together with Mirova, build a broader emerging markets platform dedicated to clean energy and climate investments. SunFunder has an experienced and diverse team of 38 people of 16 different nationalities, 55 percent of whom are women and 45 percent of whom are African, mainly based in Nairobi, Paris and London.

SunFunder’s business objectives align perfectly with Mirova’s aim to become a global leader in energy transition financing and complements its impact investment solutions offering by enhancing its debt financing expertise and in-depth knowledge of emerging markets.

Mirova, a pioneer in impact investing in Europe through its investment strategies in energy transition infrastructure, private equity, social impact investing and listed equities, is thus accelerating its commitments in emerging countries, where it is already present in natural capital.

Audrey Desiderato and Ryan Levinson, co-founders of SunFunder, said they couldn’t imagine a better partner to join forces with than Mirova, a company with a mission and strong culture of impact that we share.

“We’ve heard a lot of talk about ESG investment, but there are very few companies like Mirova and SunFunder leading the pack with 100 percent truly sustainable investments. Together we will become the leading clean energy and climate investor in emerging markets, through bold new investments with real impact,” they said.

Tim Ryan, CEO of Natixis Investment Managers, described the acquisition of SunFunder as an important step for its affiliate Mirova and falls within the company’s 2024 strategic plan and contributes to strengthening its private and alternative asset offering.

“Our clients around the world looking for diversification and sustainable sources of return will now have easier access to impact investments in emerging markets,” Ryan said.

Mirova and SunFunder’s first objective is to launch a solar energy debt financing fund, with an investment capacity of $500m through about 70 projects spread over Africa, Asia and Latin America. The first closing could take place by the end of the year.

Mirova and its subsidiaries manage €27bn of assets as of March 31, 2022, including €2.2bn in energy transition infrastructure and €500m in natural capital.