Emergya fills sails with EUR45m windfall

Emergya Wind Technologies, a Dutch turbine manufacturer, has secured two rounds of investments during the past three months.

In December 2007 a group of four investors led by AtlasInvest, injected EUR30m into Emergya. AtlasInvest stands for a group of companies owned by Marcel van Poecke, one of the co-founders and former CEO of Petroplus. The group also includes Ludgate Environmental Fund. The investment will be in two-year secured loan notes, with warrants attached. The loan notes have an 8% coupon and the warrants are convertible into ordinary Emergya shares. The funds raised will be used to repay some outstanding loans and as working capital.

One month later, in January, a consortium led by Emerald Technology Ventures, a fund specialising in investments in cleantech, injected EUR15m into Emergya Wind. The consortium also includes Rabo Ventures BV and Impax Asset Management Ltd, participating on behalf of their respective managed funds.

The investment follows a recent announcement by the Global Wind Energy Council that 2007 was a record year for the worldwide wind market, with installations up significantly from 2006. The figure is up by 30% compared with new installations in 2006, while the sum of the world's total installations increased by 27% to reach over 94GW by the end of 2007. Wind powered generation has accounted for 24% of new power generating capacity built in Europe over the past 15 years and the demand is growing fast, according to Ludgate director, Nick Pople.

Founded in 2004, Emergya is a Dutch manufacturer and supplier of wind turbines and turnkey wind parks. It specialises in the development and manufacture of advanced, gearless wind turbines. It was established by the acquisition of the intellectual property of Dutch wind turbines manufacturer Lagerwey. The current product portfolio consists of 750KW and 900KW wind turbines, but Emergya is developing larger turbines for both onshore and offshore applications. Page 22.

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