CleanFund closes $103 million clean energy asset-backed securitization

By Wendy Van Sickle

Columbus, Ohio, July 31 – CleanFund announced the closing of a $103 million securitization backed entirely by Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) property assessments issued under Rule 144A in a press release on Tuesday.

CleanFund, a provider of C-PACE funding, called this the largest and highest-rated C-PACE securitization of any kind and a first for the industry.

A single $103 million AAA-rated note was issued in the transaction.

Credit Suisse was the adviser and structuring agent.

The securities are backed by $115 million of C-PACE assessments on 82 properties in six states in the West Coast, Midwest and East Coast.

"This first 144A securitization for C-PACE is a significant moment for the industry,” CleanFund chief executive officer Greg Saunders said in the release.

“As a pioneer of the C-PACE industry, CleanFund has demonstrated its vision to help reduce the environmental impact of commercial properties through structured finance.

"Tapping the public markets should open the door for follow-on transactions that bring more investors to our industry and provide our customers even more competitive and robust financing options for office, retail, industrial, multi-family and other commercial property.”

C-PACE financing was introduced in California in 2008 as a form of voluntary parcel tax assessment financing to fund improvements that reduce energy and water usage and that provide seismic and other resiliency benefits to the built environment, according to the release.

C-PACE financing for commercial real estate has been adopted in 34 states and the District of Columbia and allows property owners to repay qualified investments for building upgrades and new construction as a line item on the property's ordinary property tax bills.

Sausalito, Calif.-based CleanFund is a provider of long-term financing for energy efficiency, water conservation, renewable energy and seismic improvements to commercial, multifamily and other nonresidential properties in the United States.

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