CNP Assurances and Meridiam launch Meridiam Transition fund

Meridiam, a global investor and asset manager, and CNP Assurances, a French insurance corporation, have announced plans to launch the Meridiam Transition fund.

In the context of the COP 21, also known as the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, this fund intends to offer an innovative response to the challenges of the energy transition by contributing to the financing of greenfield investment projects and is open to all institutional investors wishing to contribute to financing the ecological and energy transition.

Meridiam Transition will mainly target innovative development projects in the field of energy efficiency, local energy services (particularly heating networks as well as energy recovery from waste), power and gas grids and innovative renewable energies. The fund will offer long-term support, based on a 20-year investment horizon, to projects of a fairly modest size but with a significant regional impact, in France and the European Union.

Frédéric Lavenir, CEO of CNP Assurances, stated:

“CNP Assurances took the initiative of launching this green infrastructure fund, which is designed to invest in local projects in France and which could soon reach €500 million. As an institutional investor, we believe that it is both our responsibility and in our interest as a long-term player to contribute to developing new financing models to respond to the challenges of energy transition and climate change.”

Thierry Déau, Meridiam founder and CEO, commented:

“The energy transition, and the associated challenge of climate change, is also a fantastic chance to offer long-term investment opportunities to institutional investors and to create a virtuous circle between savings and local projects. Through Meridiam Transition, we are delighted to be able to offer French institutional investors a chance to be part of this virtuous circle.”