Lotus Acquires Stephens Ranch Wind Project in Texas

GREENWICH, Conn., Aug. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — An investment affiliate of Starwood Energy Group Global, LLC (“Starwood Energy”) and Mesa Power Group (“Mesa Power”) are pleased to announce Starwood Energy’s investment affiliate’s acquisition of the 377 megawatt Stephens Ranch Wind Project (the “Project”), located in Borden and Lynn Counties, Texas covering more than 47,000 acres.

The first phase of the Project, sized at 200 megawatts, is expected to begin construction in September 2013 and to achieve commercial operations by August 2014.

Starwood Energy’s investment affiliate acquired the Project from its joint developers, Wind Tex Energy and Mesa Power.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Mesa Power.

About Starwood Energy Group
Starwood Energy is a private equity investment firm based in Greenwich, CT that specializes in energy infrastructure investments. Through its existing general opportunity fund, Starwood Energy Infrastructure Fund, LP (“SEIF”) and other affiliated investment vehicles, Starwood Energy manages total equity commitments of approximately $1.3 billion. To date Starwood Energy and its affiliates have committed to energy infrastructure transactions totaling approximately $3.2 billion in enterprise value. Select transactions include investments in a 272 MW combined cycle power plant in Colorado, the 69MW SSM solar projects in Ontario, and interests in two biomass projects currently under construction in the eastern U.S. comprising 175 MW of generation capacity.

Additional investments include the Neptune Regional Transmission System, a 660 MW undersea power cable connecting Long Island to New Jersey, and Hudson Transmission Project, a 660 MW submerged power cable connecting Manhattan to New Jersey that began commercial operation in June 2013.

Starwood Energy is an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group Global, L.P. (“Starwood Capital Group”). Starwood Capital Group is a private, U.S.-based investment firm with a core focus on global real estate.  Since the group’s inception in 1991, the firm has raised over $20 billion of equity capital and, through its various funds, has invested $16 billion representing over $41 billion in assets.  Starwood Capital Group currently has $26.3 billion of assets under management. Starwood Capital Group maintains offices in Greenwich, Atlanta, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami, and affiliated offices in London, Luxembourg, Paris and Sao Paulo.  Starwood Capital Group has invested in nearly every class of real estate on a global basis, including office, retail, residential, senior housing, golf, hotels, resorts and industrial assets.  Starwood Capital Group and its affiliates have successfully executed an investment strategy that includes building enterprises around core real estate portfolios in both the private and public markets.  Additional information about Starwood Capital can be found at www.starwoodcapital.com.

About Mesa Power Group In 2007, T. Boone Pickens created a privately held company, Mesa Power Group, LLC, to develop and finance wind and other renewable energy power projects. Mesa Power, based in Dallas, Texas, is currently developing over 500 megawatts of renewable projects across North America.

About Wind Tex Energy
Dallas-based Wind Tex Energy, a privately held independent wind power development company founded in 2002 by Steven K. DeWolf, specializes in U.S. domestic wind powered generating projects. It has developed five Texas Projects currently in operation, together comprising more than 6 percent of the total current Texas wind energy output.

Media Contact – Tom Johnson
Abernathy MacGregor: Phone: (212) 371-5999
[email protected]