CHICAGO, May 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — American Wind Capital Company (“AWCC”), the market leader in monetizing long-term, contracted ground rent / ground lease agreements in high-quality solar and wind projects, has been sold to Hannon Armstrong Capital, LLC and its affiliate Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Inc., for $106,650,000. Marathon Capital, LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to AWCC for this transaction.

AWCC currently owns leases on more than 40 projects, representing more than 1,000 MWs of solar and wind generating capacity located in 14 US states. These leases produce long-term, stable, contracted cash flows that are senior in priority. While monetizing wind lease payments has been occurring for some time, separating the underlying land from solar projects is a relatively new concept, and one that brings significant, accretive benefit to the solar asset owner. Contemporaneously with the sale, Hannon Armstrong entered into a mutually exclusive agreement with AWCC Capital, which is made up of the AWCC management team, to continue to originate solar and wind related real estate transactions. AWCC has a significant pipeline of future transactions and anticipates strong future growth in association with its new ownership.

AWCC’s CEO, Chuck Hinckley, said “this is a great deal – Hannon Armstrong is getting an exceptional portfolio of renewable related real estate assets, and AWCC Capital has access to a superior source of capital to continue providing value adding real estate solutions to solar and wind developers and landowners. The combination of our experience in this market and Hannon’s financial support create an opportunity for powerful growth. Marathon did a superior job creating a win, win, win for the selling shareholders, Hannon Armstrong the Buyer, and management who will continue to operate the business.”

About Marathon Capital:

Marathon Capital is a leading financial advisory and investment banking firm focused on providing financial advice in the areas of M&A, debt and equity capital raising, project financing, tax equity, financial restructuring, recapitalization, bankruptcy and workout situations in the global energy and infrastructure markets. Marathon Capital was named “Best Renewable Asset M&A Advisor” in 2013 by Power Finance and Risk.

Visit http://www.marathon-cap.com

SOURCE Marathon Capital, LLC