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By Fabio Teixeira
RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 27 (Reuters) - BlackRock-managed fund Climate Finance Partnership (CFP) will make its first foray into Latin America with the acquisition of a minority stake in Brasol, a Brazilian renewable energy firm, BlackRock announced on Friday.
The stake will be "shy of 50%," said portfolio manager Anmay Dittman, adding the investment will be a "test case" for future transactions in the region.
"We're really excited to get a little bit of a beachhead in Latin America and hoping that we'll find many more great investments," Dittman said at a press conference.
CFP, a public-private fund which partners with the French, German and Japanese governments as well as some U.S.-based organizations, targets emerging market climate infrastructure.
CFP did not disclose the amount paid for the stake, but Brasol Chief Executive Officer Ty Eldridge said the cash injection will help the firm in its one-billion-real ($200.38 million) plan to increase energy generation capacity.
Brasol operates renewable energy assets and leases them to commercial and industrial clients.
Brasol plans to boost its generation capacity by 200 megawatts in the next 18 months, Eldridge said.
While solar, the firm's "bread and butter," will be a key focus, Brasol is also looking into other technologies, like electric vehicle charging, Eldridge said.
"I can't tell you where every dollar is going to go," he said. "But certainly it'll go into this broad portfolio of energy transition assets, and it'll be certainly more than just solar power."
($1 = 4.9905 reais) (Reporting by Fabio Teixeira; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)