Jun 25, 2020   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Orion Energy Partners Continues the Expansion of Its Team

Orion Energy Partners, the innovative middle market energy infrastructure debt investor in North America, has added several key hires in its New York and Houston offices, including key additions to the legal, investment and risk & analytics teams.

“Our investment approach of partnering with successful middle market businesses via customized debt investment structures requires deep energy infrastructure roots, experience in both debt and equity investing, tenacity and creativity, yet patience and long-term thinking,” says Nazar Massouh, CEO and Managing Partner. “These qualities are not easy to find so we are very pleased that our broad industry network has led us to invite Scott, Zhao, Jon and Varun to join our team. With over $1 billion in dry powder available for investments, we are expecting to be very busy in the coming quarters as companies seek out our friendly, customized and accretive capital solutions.”

Orion Energy welcomes the following team members to its New York City headquarters.

Scott Weinstein, Managing Director, Technology and Innovation joins Orion Energy with more than three decades of experience in energy infrastructure and commodity risk management. He spent 25 of these years at Goldman Sachs where he worked closely with many of the existing Orion Energy team members. Scott lead efforts to create successful risk management, balance sheet investing, transaction structuring, and trading operations at Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan with over 23 years in commodity markets, 5 years in bank loans/credit markets, and two years in equity markets. Scott will lead all technology initiatives across the firm as Orion Energy facilitates and expands the use of technology in (a) deal origination, (b) transaction due diligence and risk analysis, (c) management of internal processes and data, and (d) investment performance and optimization, across all of its investments, offices and funds. Scott is also tasked to drive innovation across the firm, including creative approaches to risk optimization of existing investments as well as development and implementation of innovative investment strategies for the firm.

Zhao Yang, Vice President, Senior Counsel joins Orion Energy’s legal team from Nomura’s Infrastructure and Power Finance team. Prior to Nomura, Ms. Yang was a Senior Associate in the Project Development & Finance practice at Latham & Watkins, LLP, where she worked closely with the existing Orion Energy team on various transactions. Zhao is responsible for legal, structuring and compliance matters across the firm’s operational and investment activities.

“We are very fortunate to have Zhao join the Orion Energy Team,” says Mark Friedland, Managing Director, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer. “With both a role in principal investing and seven years’ experience with one of the pre-eminent energy project finance law firms in North America, Zhao brings a rare blend of skills that will provide robust support to Orion Energy’s customized deal execution and the firm’s other legal and operational endeavors.”

Jon Saelinger, Senior Associate, also joins from Goldman Sachs where he worked closely with members of the existing Orion Energy team on both the energy and natural resources investment banking teams and in the commodity structuring and risk management business (J. Aron & Co.). Jon brings 9 years of experience across the E&P, midstream and refining sectors on both the debt and equity side.

Orion Energy welcomes the following team member to its Houston office.

Varun Garg, Associate, was previously on the investment team at ArcLight Capital Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm focused on investments across the energy value chain. While at ArcLight, Varun focused primarily on the due diligence, execution, and monitoring of corporate equity investments in the upstream and midstream sectors.

“We continue to add strategic specialized skills to our team in Houston and New York as the firm reaffirms our pursuit of organically originated deal flow in the lower-middle market energy infrastructure sector. This approach requires focused legal resources in order to produce our signature customized, covenant tight, project finance-like legal documentation in every transaction. Along these same lines we are bolstering our unique risk & analytics approach to individual deals and overall portfolio level exposures and expect to add more resources in these areas in the coming months,” says Gerrit Nicholas, Managing Partner.

About Orion Energy Partners

Orion Energy Partners is a private capital partner to lower-middle market energy infrastructure and related companies, primarily in North America, with greater than $2.0 billion of assets under management. We provide non-control and non-dilutive capital in flexible, senior secured loan structures as an alternative to equity investment and traditional loans. Our target investment sectors include downstream, renewable and alternative energy, power generation, energy efficiency, midstream, digital infrastructure, asset-heavy services and other industrial energy opportunities. Orion Energy manages long-term, committed capital across multiple investment funds, allowing us to forge transformational relationships across a diverse group of companies and to be patient and supportive as these organizations execute on their business plans. We aim to have more than 50% of our capital partnerships support a transition to sustainable, environmentally innovative energy businesses and practices. Please visit www.OrionEnergyPartners.com to learn more about our capital partnerships.