KKR Buys Zenith Energy to Accelerate Off-Grid Renewables Growth Plan

• KKR snaps up off-grid power pioneer Zenith Energy in an A$1.7 bn deal, aiming to fast-track hybrid microgrids that decarbonise Australia’s remote mines.

KKR is doubling-down on Australia’s fast-growing remote-power market, striking a definitive deal to buy Perth-based Zenith Energy, one of the country’s largest providers of hybrid and off-grid electricity to the mining sector. While neither side disclosed terms, people familiar with the matter put the price near A$1.7 billion—about US$1.1 billion—equating to roughly 12 times Zenith’s contracted earnings.

The transaction will see private-equity sellers Pacific Equity Partners, OPSEU Pension Trust and Foresight Group cash out, while Zenith’s founder Doug Walker and the senior management team retain a minority stake, preserving continuity as the company scales. Closing is expected late 2025, subject to customary approvals, and KKR will fund the purchase from its Asia Pacific Infrastructure Investors II vehicle, underscoring the firm’s ambition to expand its regional energy-transition platform.

Founded in 2006, Zenith runs more than 710 MW of contracted capacity across some 15 microgrids in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, supplying critical power to iron-ore, gold and lithium mines far from the main grid. Many of those systems blend solar, wind, battery storage and high-efficiency gas turbines, enabling customers to shave diesel use and shrink Scope 1 emissions—an increasingly urgent task as global miners chase net-zero targets.

The deal lands just weeks after Zenith refinanced and upsized its bank facilities to A$1.9 billion, giving the company more than A$1 billion in fresh headroom for upcoming projects such as the Kathleen Valley and Bellevue Gold hybrid stations. KKR’s capital and operating muscle are expected to accelerate that build-out. “Zenith has established itself as a clear leader in deploying and managing hybrid power solutions in Australia,” said Andrew Jennings, head of KKR’s Australia & NZ infrastructure team, adding that the firm sees “significant headroom” as miners electrify their haul fleets and processing plants.

For KKR, the purchase extends a run of Asia-Pacific decarbonisation bets, following stakes in Japanese solar developer Shizen and India’s Serentica Renewables. It also highlights private capital’s appetite for contracted, inflation-linked cash flows at the edge of the grid, even as interest-rate headwinds cool some large-scale renewables auctions. If regulators sign off on time, Zenith could begin 2026 with both a new owner and the balance-sheet firepower to help Australia’s resource giants hit their ambitious climate goals.