News
August 29th, 2007
Solarcentury Ltd, a leading supplier of solar electric and thermal technology, completes £13.5 million financing
London – Solarcentury Holdings Limited today announces the completion of a £13.5m round of financing to fund its product development and international expansion strategy. The round was led by zouk ventures, a European Cleantech investor, and co-led by Good Energies, a global investor in renewable energy. Additional investors are Foursome Investments and Vantania Holdings Limited (advised by the Consensus Business Group), along with participation by existing investors VantagePoint Venture Partners and Scottish and Southern Energy.
Established in 1999, Solarcentury is a leading provider of a range of award winning proprietary and third party photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal products to commercial, residential and public sector customers in the UK and other European countries, focusing on building integrated product solutions. The Company maintains a strong network of distributors and installers while successfully working with large building contractors and property developers.
Jeremy Leggett, founder and CEO of Solarcentury, commented, “We are delighted with the commitment from our new investors, who are leading institutions in the solar and clean technology sectors. Their expertise will be a valuable contribution to Solarcentury’s development and growth. This new investment further strengthens our position as a leader in building integrated solar products.”
Samer Salty, CEO of zouk ventures, said, “Solarcentury has an impressive track record in the UK solar market and we are excited about the prospect of further European expansion. Favourable market conditions, supportive legislation and early sales successes have signaled that now is the time to push further into international markets. The Company’s experienced management team is well positioned to capture the fast growing building integrated solar opportunity and we look forward to working with them”. zouk’s investment in Solarcentury further builds its portfolio of leading European Cleantech companies.
“With this investment round Solarcentury will take the next steps towards European expansion. We are a proud investor in one of the future leaders in the downstream solar PV business in Europe”, Sven Hansen, Chief Investment Officer of Good Energies said. Good Energies’ investment in Solarcentury is an important step in strengthening its downstream portfolio in photovoltaics.
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For further information:
Solar Century
Charlotte Webster +44 (0) 207 803 1148, + 44 (0) 7990 583307
zouk ventures
Saskia Hopmann, Investor Relations +44 (0) 207 947 3420
Good Energies
Dr. Alexander W. Rohde +41 41 560 66 60
Foursome Investments
Iyad Omari +44 207 833 0555
Consensus Business Group
Wayne Keast +44 (0) 207 355 7804
Notes to Editors:
Solarcentury Holdings Limited
Solarcentury (www.solarcentury.com) is the UK’s leading solar energy company, specialising in the design and supply of building integrated solar technologies. Solarcentury is in business for a purpose: to help create a cleaner world and a sustainable future. Based in London, with operations in the UK, France and Spain, it has installed over 500 solar systems including those on the Eden Project, Vauxhall Cross Bus Terminal and Europe’s largest vertical solar facade on the CIS Tower, Manchester. Solarcentury has helped thousands of homes go solar through its network of associate installers and is the founding company of the schools initiative Solar4Schools. In 2006, Solarcentury was named the UK’s Fastest Growing Renewable Energy Company by The Sunday Times Tech Track 100.
zouk ventures
zouk ventures (www.zouk.com) is a London-based venture capital firm that manages over $200m. As part of its clean technology strategy, zouk is focusing on expansion stage capital in areas such as solar technology, energy efficiency and storage, water, emission reduction, nanotechnology and recycling. zouk ventures has invested in renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies in Europe and Asia, and has been a leading investor in the carbon market for many years.
Good Energies
Good Energies (www.goodenergies.com) is a leading investor in the renewable energy industry, managing the renewable energies portfolio of the COFRA Group, a privately owned group of companies. The current market capitalization of its portfolio is over five billion dollars. Good Energies places its emphasis on the interrelated business areas of solar energy, wind energy, load management and green buildings. Good Energies operates globally with offices in Zug/Switzerland, London, New York, Washington D.C. and Toronto. The company invests across all life cycles of a company and pursues a long-term investment approach. Good Energies is guided by the 3-P-principle (3-Ps): people-planet-profit; being an investment firm it also aims to accelerate energy transition and strives to alleviate poverty by improving access to affordable renewable energy.
VantagePoint Venture Partners
VantagePoint Venture Partners (www.vpvp.com) invests in bold entrepreneurial companies, positioned to fundamentally transform their industries. With more than $5 billion of assets under management and extraordinary depth of experience, we tackle ambitious projects that require substantial financial resources and intellectual capital. We partner with the most talented entrepreneurs who are building CleanTech, Healthcare and Technology companies that are world-scale in both size and substance. Our portfolio companies benefit from the seasoned judgment that comes from an aggregate of more than 500 years of venture capital and technology experience, as well as expertise gained from working on more than 600 IPOs or M&A transactions.
Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) PLC
Scottish and Southern Energy (www.scottish-southern.co.uk) is one of the largest energy companies in the UK. It is involved in the generation, transmission, distribution and supply of electricity; energy trading; the storage, distribution and supply of gas; electrical and utility contracting; and telecoms. SSE supplies more than 8 million customers through its retail brands, Southern Electric, SWALEC, Scottish Hydro Electric and Atlantic SSE is the UKs leading generator of electricity from renewable resources and is UKs largest non-nuclear electricity generator with over 10,000 megawatts of capacity from the most diverse portfolio of power stations. SSE recognises the growing contribution of renewable technologies in the UK energy market. Its investment in the solarcentury business reflects the success of the relationship between the two businesses and confidence in the future of this sector.
Foursome Investments
Foursome Investments Limited (www.foursome.net) is a London-based investment management business specialising in early and growth stage venture capital and private equity investments. Since its inception in 1998, Foursome has focused on environmental and clean technology growth capital investments, as well as backing innovative early stage businesses with a disruptive offering.
Consensus Business Group
Consensus Business Group (www.consensusbusiness.com) is a multi-faceted principal investor and advisor in a broad range of activities, including structured finance and the acquisition, management and development of commercial and residential real estate. Consensus has significant shareholdings in property and property related companies and is now one of the UKs largest private property companies with £5bn of investments in commercial property and a portfolio of around 300,000 residential freeholds. Consensus has also advised on more than £200m of environmental and new energy principal investments, projects and funds and is aggressively increasing its activities and operations in this sector.