The New Zealand Superannuation Fund and Infratil Ltd., a listed infrastructure fund managed by Wellington-based H.R.L. Morrison & Co., said Wednesday they each hold a 45% stake in Longroad Energy Holdings, a Boston-based developer and operator of wind and solar generation facilities established earlier this year.
Longroad's management team will own the remaining 10%.
In a telephone interview, Vimal Vallabh, investment director of Morrison & Co.'s energy and renewable sector team, said initial plans call for up to $100 million in development expenditures.
Catherine Etheredge, a spokeswoman for Auckland-based NZ$31.4 billion ($22.6 billion) New Zealand Super, said the sovereign wealth fund's planned investments in utility-scale wind and solar generation facilities throughout North America will effectively inject as much as $45 million more “over time” into New Zealand Super's infrastructure mandate with Morrison.
As of the June 30 close of New Zealand Super's latest fiscal year, the fund reported infrastructure allocations of NZ$975 million managed by H.R.L. Morrison & Co., including its late 2014 investment in retirement village operator RetireAustralia, and Z Energy, the New Zealand downstream assets of petroleum giant Royal Dutch Shell the fund purchased in 2010.
An Infratil news release said Longroad's leadership — including Paul Gaynor, Michael Alvarez, Pete Keel and Charles Spiliotis — represent the “reformulated team of First Wind,” a Boston-based renewable energy company that was purchased in 2015 for $2.4 billion by SunEdison, the global renewable energy giant that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.
