Conetwork closes EUR100m cleantech fund

01 May 2008

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Fund

Conetwork Erneuerbare Energien Management GmbH has closed CEE Conetwork Erneuerbare Energien GmbH & Co KgaA on EUR100m. The evergreen fund is based in Germany and has an unlimited lifespan. The minimum subscription is EUR2.5m.

The fund will invest venture capital, private equity and mezzanine. After the capital has been invested, the fund may be listed at the stock market and/or raise further funding. Terms and conditions are described as industry standard. Lampe Corporate Finance will act as the exclusive adviser while Rittstieg Rechtsanwalte will provide legal advice.

Investors

The EUR100m of capital was raised from 12 institutional investors, among them one fund-of-funds, all based in Germany. Two thirds of the capital came from insurances and pension funds, 10% from family offices and 15% from a strategic investor. Bankhaus Lampe KG (wholly owned by the German Oetker family) acts as cornerstone investor and has invested EUR7.5m. The Oetker family provided another EUR3.5m.

Investments

CEE focuses on renewable energies and cleantech with an emphasis on early energy markets and projects. The fund plans to invest in 15-25 companies, building a diversified portfolio of private equity, venture capital, and mezzanine investments in renewable energies and cleantech with a broad footprint within the sector. Investments will be focused on energy generation, heat generation and technology companies. The focus is in Germany (with an estimated 50-70%) and the rest of Europe, but the fund can invest globally. CEE does not plan to interfere with portfolio companies' management, and has the ability to hold companies for significantly longer than classical private equity, for 10-15 years for example. The fund will typically invest EUR2m-10m, but can make significantly larger investments as a co-investor, and several institutional investors have expressed an interest to co-invest with the fund.

First investments have been concluded or are in the pipeline, such as in two wood pellet production companies. Further investments are being prepared in the area of biogas production and distribution and the production of photovoltaic thin film modules.

People

The holding is managed by a team of six under the leadership of Detlef Schreiber and Olaf Ludemann. Together, they have invested in the same sector since 2001, such as in windpark builder REpower Systems AG, ecological electricity trader Lichtblick - die Zukunft der Energien GmbH & Co KG and CHOREN Industries GmbH, which sources synthetic fuel from biomass.

Name: CEE Conetwork Erneuerbare Energien GmbH & Co KgaA

Closed on: EUR100m

Focus: Early-stage Cleantech, renewable energies, Germany, Europe

Contact: Detlef Schreiber, Olaf Ludemann

Address: Conetwork Erneuerbare Energien Holding GmbH & Co KGaA, Brandstwiete 1, 20457 Hamburg

Tel: +49 40 688788 0

Fax: +49 40 688788 70

Advisers: Lampe Corporate Finance, Rittstieg Rechtsanwalte (Legal).