Riverstone was founded by Pierre F. Lapeyre, Jr. and David M. Leuschen, who had been instrumental in the formation of the Goldman Sachs Global Energy & Power Group in the mid 1980s. The firm is based in New York and has offices in Houston, London, and Mexico City. Riverstone and Carlyle closed on their first fund with $222 million of commitments in 2001. In June 2004, the firms completed fundraising for Carlyle/Riverstone Global Energy & Power Fund II, with $1.1 billion of investor commitments, almost five times the size of the first fund. In 2006, Riverstone and Carlyle raised a pair of funds, including the third in its series of main funds, Carlyle/Riverstone Global Energy and Power III, which raised $3.8 billion of capital. The two firms also raised their first renewable energy focused fund, Carlyle/Riverstone Renewable Energy Infrastructure Fund I, with $685 Million. Also in 2006, Riverstone was a member of a consortium of private equity firms including Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Carlyle Group that completed the $27.5 billion acquisition of Kinder Morgan, one of the largest pipeline operators in the US. The buyout was backed by Richard Kinder, a former president of Enron. In 2008, Riverstone and Carlyle raised $6 billion for their fourth main energy fund, Riverstone/Carlyle Global Power & Energy Fund IV. Additionally in 2008, the firms raised a $3.4 billion Riverstone/Carlyle Renewable Energy Infrastructure Fund II as a successor to the $685 million fund raised in 2006 to focus on renewable energy investments. Then in 2013, Riverstone raised $7.7 billion for its fifth main energy fund, Riverstone Global Power & Energy Fund V. In 2016, Riverstone raised $5.1 billion for its sixth main energy fund, Riverstone Global Power & Energy Fund VI.
Operations
As of 2016, Riverstone and Carlyle have six main funds focused on buyouts in energy with approximately $36 billion of raised capital. It also manages Riverstone Energy, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Controversies
In 2009 the New York Attorney GeneralAndrew Cuomo ordered Riverstone Holdings LLC to pay $30 million in restitution after Riverstone Holdings employed fixers to get them business from pension funds controlled by "corrupt" state officials.
Green/Environmental initiatives
In March 2010, Riverstone/Carlyle made an investment in Enviva Partners LP. Enviva is one of the largest suppliers of wood pellets and other processed woody biomass in the world. These products are used by industrial customers. The AES Corporation and Riverstone Holdings LLC announced on March 25 that they have committed up to 1 billion as a part of a new joint venture to develop a global platform of utility-scale solar photovoltaic projects. Together, these firms have provided $500 million of capital over five years to invest in PV solar projects around the world. This jointly owned entity is known as AES Solar, a developer and operator of utility-scale solar installations that will be connected to power grids that supply businesses. These installations consist of land based solar PV panels that capture sunlight and convert it to electricity in order to feed the power grid.
