Carlyle to Invest up to $1B to Facilitate North Bridge's C-PACE Loans

The Carlyle Group CG made a strategic investment in North Bridge ESG LLC (North Bridge), with a commitment to provide up to $1 billion to facilitate the origination of commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) loans by North Bridge.

C-PACE financing, which North Bridge offers institutional clients in major U.S. markets, is a fixed-rate, long-term funding option backed by local property assessments. This financing mechanism is becoming popular among commercial real estate developers due to its ability to increase property values while also providing flexible terms for building, renovation and recapitalization projects.

Carlyle's Credit Strategic Solutions (CSS) and Private Credit teams worked together to complete this deal. CSS is a Global Credit business unit that focuses on private fixed-income and asset-backed investments.

More on Carlyle Investment in North Bridge’s C-PACE Loans

This partnership between Carlyle and North Bridge capitalizes on CG's strategic expansion, real estate and asset-backed finance experience. This will enable North Bridge to address changing market needs on a bigger scale.

The $1-billion commitment from Carlyle to C-PACE is the largest financing to date, allowing North Bridge to lead the industry's transformation to better satisfy the needs of institutional sponsors and their lenders.

Management Remarks

Akhil Bansal, head of Credit Strategic Solutions at Carlyle, stated, "We are pleased to bring together Carlyle's significant expertise in asset-backed finance and real estate credit to help commercial real estate owners address their financing needs." He added, "North Bridge has a proven capability to deliver C-PACE financing solutions of substantial size to borrowers and sponsors and we are excited to partner with them to drive growth in an increasingly important financing market."

Rachel King, a principal focused on opportunistic real estate credit at Carlyle stated, “Our partnership with North Bridge, a leader in providing capital market solutions to commercial real estate owners, allows us to further meet the financing demands facing the industry." He also noted, “Banks have pulled back from commercial real estate lending due to concentration risk in the sector, resulting in a dynamic that we believe should yield attractive relative value opportunities for C-PACE lenders with capital to deploy today."

Final Words on CG Investment Plan

Carlyle's Real Estate Credit Opportunities strategy, part of the private credit team, focuses on directly originated, asset-specific commercial real estate lending, programmatic investing in real estate credit platforms, financing companies focused on real estate and real estate-related investments.

The latest move positions Carlyle as a significant player in the growing market of focused real estate finance.

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