The Electric: Some Investors Are Using IRA Tax Credits to Pay Themselves

Since 2021, lead-acid battery maker Clarios has been talking about going public. But in January, the company said it was scrapping its plans for an initial public offering. 

That would normally have been a blow to the company’s owners, private equity firm Brookfield Asset Management and Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

Instead, the two owners had Clarios issue $4.5 billion in debt and pocketed the cash as a dividend. That’s a typical page out of the private equity playbook, and it left Clarios with a heavy $14 billion debt load.