Bridgepoint to Buy Energy Infrastructure-Focused ECP for $1B

Bridgepoint Group, an alternative asset manager, will buy Energy Capital Partners (ECP), a North American infrastructure investor, for an initial 835 million pounds ($1.05 billion) in cash and debt.

The deal includes 233 million pounds in cash, 423 million pounds in shares and awards in the combined firm, and 179 million pounds in Energy Capital’s current debt.

Based in Summit, New Jersey, ECP has raised more than $30 billion since its creation in 2005, focusing on electricity generation, renewables, battery storage, environmental infrastructure, and sustainability.

ECP will continue to operate under its existing brand. Doug Kimmelman, ECP’s senior partner and founder, will continue to lead the infrastructure platform and ECP leadership will join Bridgepoint’s executive team.

The transaction will be immediately accretive to Bridgepoint’s shareholders.

“Joining forces with ECP is an important powerful next step in Bridgepoint’s strategic objective of building a globally scaled, diversified platform in middle-market private assets investing,” said William Jackson, Chairman, Bridgepoint.

The transaction will be funded with units in a new limited partnership exchangeable for Bridgepoint shares and Bridgepoint’s existing balance sheet resources, and ECP’s senior management and many of its employees will become significant shareholders in the company.

A share ownership program will be implemented for all ECP employees. As a result, ECP partners will collectively become one of Bridgepoint’s largest owners, holding 19% of the company’s shares prior to earn-out and up to 25% if complete earn-out is achieved.

Bridgepoint primarily invests in private equity and private debt and manages assets totaling more than 38 billion euros ($40.76 billion) across Europe, the United States and China.