Armstrong announces first close of cleantech fund on $65m

Specializing in small-scale power generation and resource efficiency projects, the Armstrong South East Asia Clean Energy Fund expects to sign off its first deals during the coming months, with priority going to opportunities in the solar and mini-hydro sectors. The main targets will be infrastructure developers in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

LPs so far include European development finance institutions (DFIs) GEEREF and DEG, and an Asian-based corporation.

"The participation of GEEREF and DEG is strong validation of the Armstrong fund investment strategy and attests to our team's competence and potential to operate in this fast-growing sector within Southeast Asia," said Armstrong Managing Partner Andrew Affleck. "We are hopeful of completing one to two key deals soon."

Affleck has 22 years of asset management and investment banking experience in Asia, having focused on clean energy investments for the last seven years. Prior to founding Armstrong Asset Management, he was CEO of Low Carbon Investors, a global clean energy fund management group with more than $300 million under management.

Armstrong is now in talks with other DFIs, companies, family offices and institutional investors to raise money for the vehicle's second close, which is expected by year-end. Affleck recently told AVCJ that the vehicle is expected to hold a final close in May 2013, with potentially as much as 40% of the total corpus being committed by DFIs.

A total of 10-15 investments will be made, each ranging from $5 million to $12 million over the fund's 10-year lifespan. Preferred projects will generate less than 10MW of renewable power from solar, wind and mini-hydro sources. The ideal exit route for project portfolios is via trade sales, which the asset manager hopes will generate a gross return of 20% for the fund.

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• Topics
• Infrastructure
• Cleantech
• Fundraising
• Fundraising
• Armstrong Asset Management
• Cleantech
• Southeast Asia