Technology

Budderfly secures $400M to fuel clean energy technology adoption

Photo: Budderfly

January 25, 2024

Budderfly, a sustainability partner for commercial businesses with repeatable footprints, has secured $400 million to help fund its next stage of growth and to help accelerate clean energy technology adoption across the mid-market. The senior debt facility originated by Vantage Infrastructure with the financing co-led by Vantage and the Energy Infrastructure Credit team at Nuveen, according to a company press release.

"Budderfly's innovative business model is a unique, customer-centric offering that offers an integrated solution combining technical know-how, proven and tested equipment and financial resources into energy solutions for mid-market players," Nick Cleary, senior partner at Vantage, said in the press release. "At its core, Budderfly serves as a channel for our clients to support energy transition across North America with an established and highly diversified portfolio of infrastructure assets, which we expect to grow significantly."

Under the terms of the transaction, Vantage and Nuveen have committed $200 million to Budderfly at close, along with an option that provides Budderfly access to an additional $200 million in financing. The capital will support Budderfly's continued ability to identify and deploy energy-saving technologies, including high-performance HVACs, solar panels, smart thermostats for the growing number of small- and medium-sized commercial buildings across the United States in need of cost-effective decarbonization solutions.

"We are thrilled to provide financing to support a business that provides a much needed low carbon solution for Budderfly's resilient and diversified customer base," Don Dimitrievich, portfolio manager of Nuveen's Energy Infrastructure Credit business, said in the release. "One of our key underwriting fundamentals includes backing experienced management teams, which we've found here with Budderfly."

"This debt facility from Vantage and Nuveen is a critical milestone in Budderfly's transition into a multi-billion dollar next-generation infrastructure platform," said Todd Bright, partner at Partners Group, a global private markets firm and majority owner of Budderfly. "As the demand for energy efficiency accelerates as we race to meet climate goals, Budderfly is equipped with the capital needed to meet that demand for a crucial segment of the commercial market that without Budderfly would be left behind on the path to profitability in a net-zero economy."

Budderfly's EaaS offering is an end-to-end, outsourced solution that unlocks a path to sustainability for mid-market businesses, according to the release. It upgrades and installs energy-efficient equipment, including HVAC systems, air quality management, LED lighting, refrigeration, smart panels, sensors and controls and solar.