Pelican Energy Partners ("Pelican") announced the successful closing of Pelican Energy Partners Base Zero LP ("Base Zero" or "the Fund") at $450 million, which far exceeded its target of $300 million and initial hard cap of $400 million. This is Pelican's first fund focused on control buyout and growth investments in nuclear energy services and equipment companies.
Pelican attracted commitments from long-standing existing and new institutional LPs, including endowments, foundations, family offices, pension plans and prominent gatekeepers. The team also provided a substantial GP commitment contributing to the fund's momentum.
Pelican focuses exclusively on energy service and equipment investments in companies with differentiated offerings. It has raised more than $1 billion for this industry sector since 2012 and fully realized over fifteen investments. Base Zero is committed to growing and improving nuclear services companies, which are critical to sustaining and enhancing the installed nuclear power generation base. Nuclear energy accounts for more than 20% of US electricity and nearly 50% of US carbon free electricity, both of which are central to meeting the dual objective of base load reliability and de-carbonization. As of the final close date, the Fund had completed six platform investments with several additional opportunities expected to close prior to year-end.
"We are excited to be investing in the nuclear services sector which is substantially undercapitalized relative to the increasing importance of nuclear power generation within the US and global energy mix," stated Mike Scott, Founder and Managing Partner at Pelican. "This strategy is a continuation of our focus on the lower middle market where we continue to see excellent investment opportunities with substantial value creation potential. We are very grateful to our new and existing investors and fortunate to have a fantastic team in place to execute on this strategy."
Jay Surina, Managing Director at Pelican, added, "The wide-ranging enthusiasm for Base Zero is a testament to the growing interest and necessity of nuclear power. We look forward to continuing to build an outstanding portfolio where we can add substantial value and achieve excellent returns for our partners."
Calpa Partners served as the global placement agent and advisor on the fundraise. Kirkland and Ellis acted as fund counsel.
