Climate Real Impact Solutions, First Climate-Focused Special-Purpose Acquisition Company, Announces Closing of Its Public Offering

SPAC launches with founders and board of directors consisting of clean energy veterans from NRG, Credit Suisse, General Electric and Green Mountain Power

October 05, 2020 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Climate Change Crisis Real Impact I Acquisition Corporation, NYSE: CLII.U, dba Climate Real Impact Solutions (CRIS) announced today the closing of its initial public offering of 23,000,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit including 3,000,000 sold to the underwriters pursuant to the full exercise of their over-allotment option. CRIS is a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) created to combat the climate crisis by completing a business combination with a scalable company in the climate sector, and it launches with a team of founders and directors who collectively boast decades of leadership and operating experience in the utility, renewable energy, private equity and finance industries. The SPAC is co-sponsored by private funds affiliated with Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (PIMCO), which has nearly $150 billion in sustainability investments across its portfolios.

“With each passing year, millions more Americans accept that climate change is a defining issue of our time and that, while we have to do our part, it is the obligation of this generation of American leadership to lead the effort to do something about it”

CRIS intends to employ a business acquisition strategy that utilizes both traditional financial and climate-focused environmental metrics to acquire and then to maximize both the value and the climate impact of the combined company. These companies may be in the business of either avoiding carbon emissions into the atmosphere from the residential, commercial or transportation sectors or in the business of removing CO2 already in the atmosphere.

CRIS expects our initial focus for a business combination will be in the following sectors:

Distributed energy generation
Renewable energy
Large-scale solutions for grid stability and resilience
Energy efficiency
Green energy service companies
Green retail energy/smart energy home as a service
Electric vehicle infrastructure and decarbonized liquid fuels
Circular economy
Carbon capture and utilization
Sustainable agriculture
Reforestation

CRIS founders chose these sectors with the goal of broad-based climate impact in mind, focusing on products and services that consumers interact with at home, in their work life and in transit. In addition to offering significant, measurable carbon mitigation impacts, these sectors encompass climate technologies that have already demonstrated commercial effectiveness and economic viability.

The CRIS founders and directors combine expertise across areas necessary for success in their targeted climate sectors, including but not limited to: experience at Fortune 500 companies in leadership, operations, capital formation and customer value strategies; tangible clean energy innovation and investment; authentic climate advocacy and robust networks of industry connections cultivated through decades of market and climate leadership. The team expects to be more than financial stewards and engineers of business acquisitions – CRIS leadership is dedicated to mentoring and supporting the acquisition target’s management, business strategy and operations in order to maximize impact. Key members of CRIS leadership include:

Management

David Crane, co-founder, chief executive officer and director, served as CEO of NRG Energy, Inc. for 12 years, during which he led the company to the forefront of clean energy deployment in the United States
John Cavalier, co-founder and chief financial officer, spent seven years as managing partner of Hudson Clean Energy Partners and a combined 20 years as global chairman/senior advisor of Credit Suisse’s Energy Group
Beth Comstock, co-founder and chief commercial officer, former Vice Chair and 27-year veteran of GE, where she had an extensive track record in innovation including creation of GE Ventures and the ecomagination clean energy initiative

Board of Directors:

Mary Powell, independent director and board chair, who spent 11 years as CEO of Green Mountain Power where she led advanced distributed energy generation, pioneered residential solar adoption and revolutionized the company into one of the leading energy transformations in the country
Mimi Alemayehou, independent director, formerly executive vice president of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and Managing Director of Black Rhino Group, an investment platform focused on energy and infrastructure assets in Africa
Richard Kauffman, independent director, energy investor, former New York State Chairman of Energy and Finance with oversight of the New York Energy Research and Development Authority, and former Senior Advisor to US Energy Secretary Steven Chu
Jamie Weinstein, director, managing director, portfolio manager and head of corporate special situations at PIMCO and former portfolio manager at KKR

“With each passing year, millions more Americans accept that climate change is a defining issue of our time and that, while we have to do our part, it is the obligation of this generation of American leadership to lead the effort to do something about it,” said David Crane, CRIS CEO and founder. “Over the past decade, American entrepreneurs have brought forth a wide array of exciting products and services which are clean, green, smart and affordable. We have formed Climate Real Impact Solutions to help those entrepreneurs gain access to the capital, the connections and the talent they need to take their businesses to the next level while amplifying their climate impact.