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Greenbacker Group Receives New Equity Investment, Names New Co-Chairs

Greenbacker Group LLC, a fund management business that invests in renewable energy and energy efficiency infrastructure, has closed a financial transaction designed to improve its balance sheet, add new financial resources and increase its management capabilities.

Greenbacker took in a minority investment of $4 million, as well as a new $1.5 million secured loan, from a group of investors led by Kedrick Cerry Inc., a Florida-based firm that invests in infrastructure assets such as railroads, renewable energy and telecommunications.

The company said that it used the capital to retire existing debt, reduce its interest expense, and provide working capital that will help execute on its growth strategy into the future.

Ron Iervolino and Robert Brennan, who invested in the company alongside KCI, were appointed as co-chairmen of Greenbacker.

Iervolino has 35 years of industry experience and most recently served as head of Guggenheim Debt Capital Markets where he managed fixed income, real estate and structured credit businesses as well as serving on executive committees for Guggenheim Partners. He is currently a partner at Franklin Park, which manages a $1 billion infrastructure fund.

Brennan, a 34-year Wall Street veteran, ran the commercial real estate finance businesses at Guggenheim Partners, Credit Suisse and Donaldson Lufkin and Jenrette. In 2010, he was a founding investor in Pillar Financial, a specialty finance, servicing and asset management platform focused on housing and health care related properties that was sold to SunTrust Bank in 2016. Brennan is currently the chair of the investment committee for the University of Vermont Endowment.

“We are extremely pleased to add these thought leaders to our senior executive team,” said Charles Wheeler, the co-CEO of Greenbacker. “We believe that their extensive experience in the capital markets and in particular with securitizations will help us source new investment opportunities, optimize our debt structures and position our investments to deliver compelling exits for our existing investors.”

Greenbacker Capital Management LLC, a majority owned subsidiary of the Greenbacker Group, is the investment advisor to Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company LLC, a publicly registered, non-traded limited liability company that manages a portfolio of renewable energy power plants, energy efficiency projects and other sustainable investments. Since commencing operations in 2014, GCM now manages in excess of $200 million in solar and wind power generation assets, equal to approximately 150 megawatts of generation capacity, throughout the United States and Canada.

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