CVG Clairvest Group Inc

Clairvest Group Inc. (TSX: CVG) (“CVG”), today announced that it, a partnership managed by it, Clairvest Equity Partners V (“CEP V”, collectively “Clairvest”), and the other shareholders of Also Energy Holdings Inc. (“AlsoEnergy” or the “Company”) have entered into an agreement to sell their interests in AlsoEnergy to Stem, Inc. (NYSE: STEM) (“Stem”). The proposed transaction is expected to close in Q1 2022 after satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including notification requirements under applicable U.S. antitrust laws.

AlsoEnergy is a leading provider of solar monitoring software, integrated controls, and edge solutions to Distributed Generation and Utility customers across the U.S. Since Clairvest partnered with the two co-founders, Robert Schaefer and Holden Caine, in August 2017, AlsoEnergy executed a successful growth plan through acquiring & integrating three highly strategic companies, building a global footprint, and broadening its service offerings through innovation. Clairvest and the other shareholders will take a portion of their consideration in shares of Stem.

“We are very excited about AlsoEnergy’s new chapter with Stem, given their market position in the rapidly growing storage and digitization sectors,” said Robert Schaefer, Co-founder & CEO of AlsoEnergy. “With respect to our partnership with Clairvest, Ken Rotman, Angus Cole, and the Clairvest team provided unparalleled support to our company over the years and were true partners. Together, we navigated through opportunities and challenges collaboratively and achieved this fantastic outcome.”

“We are extremely pleased with the growth and evolution of AlsoEnergy over our investment period. AlsoEnergy grew to market leadership in the C&I segment and successfully entered the utility-scale segment to become the largest solar monitoring software company. This success was fueled by a passionate management team with a clear entrepreneurial vision,” remarked Angus Cole who leads Clairvest’s energy transition practice.

Ken Rotman, CEO & Managing Director of Clairvest commented that, “Our partnership with AlsoEnergy is an excellent example of Clairvest’s domain-focused approach to investing and emphasizes our mission to help build strategically significant businesses with our entrepreneur partners. It is our view that Stem and AlsoEnergy have a strategic fit that will enable both companies to accelerate their growth.”

The transaction will be funded by a combination of cash and common shares of Stem, providing potential further upside to Clairvest and other AlsoEnergy shareholders. Should the transaction close on anticipated terms, Clairvest will realize total sale proceeds of approximately US$350 million (CVG’s portion being US$108 million).

The sale is expected to have a positive impact on Clairvest’s book value per share of approximately $5 over the carrying value as at September 30, 2021, assuming the transaction closes on anticipated terms and not including any changes, positive or negative, to the carrying value of Clairvest’s other investments.

While all parties involved have a strong desire to complete the sale, there can be no guarantee that the transaction will be completed, or if it is completed, that it will close within the anticipated time period.

William Blair acted as financial advisor to AlsoEnergy in this transaction. Goodmans LLP acted as legal advisor to AlsoEnergy.

About ClairvestClairvest’s mission is to partner with entrepreneurs to help them build strategically significant businesses. Founded in 1987 by a group of successful Canadian entrepreneurs, Clairvest is a top performing private equity management firm with over CAD $2.5 billion of capital under management. Clairvest invests its own capital and that of third parties through the Clairvest Equity Partners limited partnerships in owner-led businesses. Under the current management team, Clairvest has initiated investments in 57 different platform companies and generated top quartile performance over an extended period.

About AlsoEnergyAlsoEnergy provides complete advanced solutions for control, monitoring, and management of solar PV and solar plus storage assets. This includes integrated software and hardware systems for DAS, SCADA, and power plant control, along with services covering the project lifecycle from system design and engineering through installation, commissioning, and support. AlsoEnergy provides technology solutions for more than 30GW of production in over 50 countries worldwide, providing regional expertise in all world markets using sales and service offices in Germany, Japan, and India along with US headquarters. For more information, visit: www.alsoenergy.com.

Forward-looking StatementsThis news release contains forward-looking statements with respect to Clairvest Group Inc., its subsidiaries, its CEP limited partnerships and their investments. These statements are based on current expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Clairvest, its subsidiaries, its CEP limited partnerships and their investments to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Such factors include regulatory risks which could impact completion of the AlsoEnergy sale transaction. Clairvest is under no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein should material facts change due to new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact InformationStephanie LoManager, Investor Relations and MarketingClairvest Group Inc.Tel: (416) 925-9270stephaniel@clairvest.com