Temasek Holdings and HSBC Holdings have officially launched its sustainable infrastructure debt financing partnership, Pentagreen Capital, on Aug 30.
The partnership was first announced in September 2021.
Pentagreen will operate independently from Temasek and HSBC. The two founding shareholders will be represented on its board.
Both Temasek and HSBC have also committed a combined US$150 million ($209.6 million) of equity in Pentagreen; the latter says it aims to deploy “blended finance at scale” over time. The platform aims to make over US$1 billion of loans within five years.
According to the release issued by Pentagreen, the debt financing partnership is committed to boosting the development of sustainable infrastructure in Asia by removing the barriers that can prevent marginally bankable projects from accessing capital.
It will seek to achieve this through a combination of technical assistance and blended finance to catalyse other sources of capital, with support from its strategic partners, it adds.
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Pentagreen will first target opportunities in Southeast Asia with a primary focus on clean transport, renewable energy and energy storage, and water and waste management. However, the platform says it will consider transactions in areas such as climate adaptation, agriculture and land use, and technology-led solutions as well as other geographies in future.
Pentagreen’s strategic partners include the Asian Development Bank, which provides origination and technical support through its presence in countries throughout the region, and Singapore’s Clifford Capital Holdings, which has a strong focus on sustainable long-term financing solutions and is uniquely positioned to provide project finance expertise and operational support.
CEO appointment
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In addition to its launch, Pentagreen has announced the appointment of its CEO Marat Zapparov. Zapparov comes with close to two decades of experience to the company, including over 15 years in infrastructure, energy and real assets financing, during which time he worked with the International Finance Corporation, Clifford Capital and HSBC.
“I am excited to lead a company formed by two world-class institutions that are committed to the goals of the Paris Agreement and to developing the infrastructure ecosystem in Asia,” says Zapparov. “Pentagreen is ideally positioned to be an alternative provider of debt capital to accelerate the development of sustainable infrastructure in Asia. We aim to fill the gap between traditional financing options from banks and development financiers and catalyse the flow of capital to innovative projects by bringing flexible debt financing solutions to the table.”
