Ropes & Gray Advises Partners Group on €120 Million Investment in Gestcompost Through a Continuation Fund

Ropes & Gray has advised Partners Group, one of the largest firms in the global private markets industry, acting on behalf of its clients, on the agreement to acquire a significant minority stake in Gestcompost, the largest organic waste treatment manager in Spain. Partners Group will invest over €120 million through its infrastructure secondaries business, acting as a cornerstone investor in a continuation fund for Gestcompost that was successfully established and will be managed by current owner Suma Capital.

Founded in 2003, Gestcompost is a market leader in the treatment of organic waste, including industrial, animal by-product, agri-food, urban, and agricultural waste. It treats waste through either composting it or by applying an anaerobic digestion process to create biogas. 

Gestcompost is set to benefit from several thematic tailwinds including higher landfill costs, new regulations around how waste is disposed of in Spain, and broad energy transition targets that emphasise the use of biomethane as an alternative fuel. Leveraging its entrepreneurial governance approach to asset transformation, Partners Group will support management and Suma Capital on implementing value creation initiatives including increasing waste volumes, acquiring new biomethane plants, and introducing operational efficiencies.

The Ropes & Gray team was led by asset management partners Tom Alabaster and Chris Townsend with support from tax partner Andrew Howard, litigation counsel Steven Kaye and senior attorney Heather Sprague, asset management associates Madalina Asandului and Alexandra Peterman, and tax associate Matthew Parsons.