CIT Group Inc. released the next installment in its CIT: Behind the Deal (cit.com/solarize) series of client case studies that showcase how the lending, leasing, and advisory expertise of CIT executives has helped their clients achieve success. This installment features Solarize Energy, an end-to-end solar project development and management company, and highlights how CIT Canada supported the company when it was looking to grow, but had limited capital.
“We saw a great company with potential to grow in a financially underserved niche in Canada, and we knew our team was uniquely positioned to deliver industry-leading expertise and financing products.”
Solarize, which specializes in installations of photovoltaic cells on the roofs of large agricultural buildings, found that many lenders had limited interest or experience in lending to a middle market solar company. CIT Corporate Finance, Energy & Infrastructure, a unit of CIT Canada, was able to offer Solarize financial advisory services and commercial financing that allowed the company to invest in several new projects.
“Our team has a great deal of experience as an advisor and arranger of energy and infrastructure projects across Canada, and we’re comfortable lending to middle market clients in growing industries like solar power generation,” said Terry Parco, Managing Director, CIT Corporate Finance, Energy & Infrastructure. “We saw a great company with potential to grow in a financially underserved niche in Canada, and we knew our team was uniquely positioned to deliver industry-leading expertise and financing products.”
Carlos Leite, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Solarize Energy, said, “CIT shared our vision of supporting a robust, dynamic solar industry in Ontario. They recognized that we had a history of successful solar installations and that we had a pipeline of opportunities to pursue, focused on projects similar to our past successes. We felt CIT understood what we were hoping to accomplish and would be a financial partner for the long term.”
CIT also offered Solarize a turnkey financial solution, including coordination of the consulting, engineering, legal, insurance and other services required to finalize an energy project, significantly reducing the substantial expenses associated with these services. In addition to reducing the project’s upfront costs, the turnkey solar financing solution enabled Solarize to make use of more experienced service providers with established track records.