Low Carbon Accelerator has increased its equity holding in Proven Energy through a further investment of GBP500,000.
Low Carbon Accelerator has increased its equity holding in Proven Energy through a further investment of GBP500,000.
The investment will be drawn down in two tranches, the first being GBP200,000 as of 30 March 2009.
After the full investment of GBP500,000, LCA’s equity ownership of Proven Energy will be 49.83 per cent with a total investment of GBP7.15m.
Proven Energy is a manufacturer of small-scale, high-performance wind turbines in the UK. Its clients include Sainsbury, BT, T-Mobile and Shell, for whom it provides marine-grade, explosion proof wind-turbines to power offshore gas platforms in the North Sea.
The new investment will be used to accelerate the product development of the enhanced 6kW and 15kW turbines; upgrade the production quality-control systems to improve yields; and expand the senior management team for the next phase of growth.
Proven Energy has expanded rapidly since LCA’s first investment in 2006 enjoying annualised sales growth averaging over 50 per cent for the last three years. It now supplies its range of 2.5kW, 6kW and 15kW turbines to over 30 countries worldwide. The US remains a strong target market with orders having increased five-fold during 2008.
Andrew Affleck, executive chairman at Low Carbon Investors, the investment manager for Low Carbon Accelerator, says: "Proven Energy is a rare yet striking example of a successful UK engineering and manufacturing firm exporting to a global market – exactly the sort of business we are proud to support. Demand for Proven’s wind turbines has remained strong despite the economic downturn and Proven Energy is well poised to capitalise on this now and over the coming years. The underpinning drivers behind the low carbon sector mean that it is one of the few markets that is still delivering growth right now. Proven is a perfect example of this."
