The Energy Transition Acquisition of the Year in Europe was awarded to KKR’s acquisition of a shareholding in transport electrification and battery storage company Zenobe. Judges were particularly impressed that the deal will add scale to a decarbonisation efforts. 

One judge said: “It is a very prominent investment providing the much-needed scale to this very important and innovative provide of EV bus fleets.” 

While another said: “The deal is a highly significant injection of equity into electrified buses, that will provide much cleaner mass transportation options to the UK and Australasia. In addition, Zenobe is stabilizing the grid through battery solutions.” 

KKR’s Global Climate Fund led Zenobe’s second fundraising round, investing $750 million. The more than $1 billion funding round also included £270 million ($349.5m) from Infracapital and $35 million from Pantheon Infrastructure Fund (PINT).  

The submission said: “The deal was highly complex, involving a primary capital raise and secondary sale. One of the main challenges was securing sufficient investment to scale Zenobe’s operations. This was overcome by partnering with KKR, whose substantial financial commitment provided the necessary resources.” 

The primary objectives of KKR’s investment in Zenobe include scaling the company’s fleet electrification and battery storage businesses, enhancing grid stability, and supporting the global transition to low-carbon energy solutions. The project aims to expand Zenobe’s market presence, increase the number of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, and develop additional grid-scale battery storage sites. 

The investment will also help Zenobē expand its grid-scale battery storage capacity through the construction and expansion of new and existing storage sites – Zenobē targets to commission approximately 1.2GW of storage in the UK by 2026 and a total of 2.5GW of battery energy storage assets in North America and Australia by 2030. 

Zenobē advisers include: 

• Barclays – financial
• Jamieson Corporate Finance – corporate finance adviser 
• A&O Shearman – legal
• Pinsent Masons – legal
• KPMG – tax 

KKR advisers include: 

• Nomura Greentech – financial 
• PwC – financial 
• Clifford Chance – legal
• RPS – technical 

Infracapital advisers include: 

• Rothschild & Co – financial 
• Hogan Lovells – legal
• Deloitte – tax