Partners Group to sell CapeOmega, a leading low carbon maritime platform

• The transaction represents a successful exit for Partners Group, which executed a full strategic pivot for CapeOmega during its ownership
• CapeOmega owns ten state-of-the-art, fuel-efficient LNG carriers that are set to make a meaningful contribution to the energy transition
• CapeOmega's fleet of carriers is benefitting from several thematic tailwinds that are driving demand for LNG transport services globally

Partners Group, one of the largest firms in the global private markets industry, acting on behalf of its clients, has agreed to sell its majority stake in CapeOmega (or "the Company"), a leading low carbon maritime platform, to Ocean Yield AS and vehicles managed by KKR.

The transaction represents a successful exit for Partners Group, which acquired CapeOmega in 2019 and then executed a full strategic pivot for the Company during its ownership. Partners Group transformed CapeOmega from an offshore energy infrastructure owner into a maritime platform that owns a fleet of ten state-of-the-art, fuel-efficient liquified natural gas ("LNG") carriers. The Company partnered with leading shipping company Knutsen to build and operate the 174,000 cbm vessels, with seven already completed and another three to be delivered over the next few months. As a maritime platform, CapeOmega has strong infrastructure characteristics including high barriers to entry due to the capex required to build specialized vessels; long-term contracts with blue-chip customers, providing visible cash flows; and significant technical expertise. 

During its ownership, Partners Group oversaw the sale of CapeOmega's natural gas pipeline and terminal business to the Norwegian government last year, which accelerated its pivot towards maritime infrastructure supporting the energy transition.

CapeOmega is playing a key role in the energy transition as LNG provides clean baseload power to energy grids whilst intermittent renewable sources are scaled up. CapeOmega's fleet is also benefitting from thematic tailwinds driving demand in the LNG transport services sector including economic growth, which is increasing energy consumption, particularly in fast growing economies across Asia-Pacific, and concerns around energy security of supply that are leading to some countries diversifying their energy sources. The demand for LNG is expected to rise by around 40% in the next five years alone.

Evy Glørstad, Chief Executive Officer, CapeOmega, comments: "In the last few years, we have evolved from the largest private infrastructure owner on the Norwegian Continental Shelf into a leading global provider of state-of-the-art, fuel-efficient LNG transport. I would like to thank our team, Partners Group, and our co-shareholder, Knutsen, for their collaboration and partnership in building this platform."

Esther Peiner, Partner, Head of Infrastructure, Partners Group, says: "We have been on a transformational journey with CapeOmega. In just a handful of years, we have completed a full strategic pivot for the Company, divesting a successful energy infrastructure operations business and building a next generation low carbon maritime platform from scratch. CapeOmega’s fleet of LNG vessels is well positioned to make a meaningful contribution to the energy transition for many years to come."

Igor Makar, Member of Management, Infrastructure Europe, Partners Group, adds: "Through our thematic research, we identified that increasing demand for cleaner energy sources, as well as concerns around energy supply security, were creating very favorable LNG and LNG shipping market dynamics. We quickly capitalized on this by partnering with a leading industry operator and installing a highly competent management team with deep execution experience across maritime and energy transition initiatives."

The transaction is expected to close in Q3 2025. Partners Group was advised by Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS as legal counsel. Partners Group's Infrastructure business has USD 31 billion in assets under management globally.