Category Archives: News

Cinven and BCI to acquire Compre

Cinven

Cinven, an international private equity firm, and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (“BCI”), one of Canada’s largest institutional investors, today announce that they have reached an agreement to acquire Compre, a specialist global consolidator of closed books of non-life insurance policies, from CBPE Capital LLP. Financial details of the transaction are not disclosed.

Compre is focused on the acquisition and management of discontinued (also known as ‘run-off’) non- life insurance portfolios and has operations in the UK, Bermuda, Finland, Germany, Malta and Switzerland. The global non-life insurance run-off market is growing steadily, driven by insurers’ increasing focus on balance sheet optimisation, capital efficiency and disposals of non-core business lines. Compre has a proven track record of acquiring portfolios from major institutions including Allianz, Generali, HSBC and Swiss Re. Founded in 1991, Compre employs c. 80 people at its offices in the UK, Continental Europe, and Bermuda.

Cinven and BCI believe that Compre is an attractive investment opportunity based on:

  • Compre’s high-quality, cash and capital-generative business model, that delivers highly predictable long-term profits, with significant downside protection;
  • Its strong and established market position in the European non-life insurance legacy market and, more recently, its growing market position in the US market through its Bermuda platform, with further ambitions to enter the Lloyd’s market going forward;
  • Its track record of acquiring and managing non-life legacy businesses over more than 30 years, comprising 11 company acquisitions and 39 portfolio transactions across various jurisdictions across Continental Europe, the UK and the US;
  • Its proven financial track record of steady and consistent growth in recent years, delivering robust performance through the COVID-19 pandemic and prior downturns;
  • The significant opportunity to capitalise on the increasing demand for legacy solutions and offer its products to a broader range of international clients; and
  • An exceptional management and leadership team, led by CEO, Will Bridger, with significant expertise across its specialist areas.

The Compre transaction represents the second investment from Cinven’s new financial services sector-focused strategy, which will be focused on similar long-term investment opportunities across Europe.

Cinven Funds’ previous investments in the European insurance sector include Guardian Financial Services in the UK; Eurovita in Italy; and Viridium in Germany. Cinven recently announced an agreement to acquire Miller, a specialist insurance broker. Other financial services investments by the Cinven Funds include Partnership Assurance, NewDay, Avolon and Premium Credit.

BCI has made a number of investments in financial services companies, including Hayfin Capital Management, Verifone, and BMS Group.

Luigi Sbrozzi, Partner of Cinven, commented:

“Cinven is delighted to be investing in Compre alongside BCI. Over the last 30 years Compre has built a proven platform in the highly specialised insurance and reinsurance run-off market, and a reputation amongst its clients for consistently creating and realising value. Compre is extremely well placed to access new growth markets, such as the US and Lloyd’s, and to broaden its client offering further. We look forward to working with Compre’s management team to deliver these growth opportunities, drawing on the deep expertise of the Cinven team in the insurance sector.”

Jim Pittman, Executive Vice President & Global Head, Private Equity, BCI, said:

“We are impressed by the quality of the platform built by Will Bridger and his team and are excited to partner alongside Cinven to support the continued growth of the business. BCI’s investment in Compre follows as a result of our proactive, sector focused origination strategy and relationship building efforts with the company. We look forward to supporting Compre in its development and in turn providing attractive and stable long-term risk-adjusted returns for our pension plan and insurance fund clients.”

Will Bridger, CEO, Compre, added:

“We are also delighted to be partnering with Cinven and BCI as we embark upon our next phase of growth. This has been a historic year for Compre. We completed our first US transaction, launched our Bermudian reinsurer and now, subject to regulatory approval, have new shareholders supporting further growth of the business. This was made possible through the commitment of everyone at Compre and our drive and determination for what we do. The legacy market is on an exciting trajectory and, together with our new shareholders, we will be best placed to deliver the ambitious plan we have for Compre.”

The transaction is expected to complete in Q2 2021 and is subject to regulatory approvals.

Cinven and BCI advisors included: Macquarie Capital (M&A); Allen & Overy and Latham & Watkins (Legal); PwC (Commercial, Financial, Actuarial, Operations, IT); FTI Consulting (Actuarial, Operations, IT, Communications); Deloitte (Tax, Structuring) and Marsh (Insurance).

Management advisers were Liberty Corporate Finance (Financial Advisor) and DLA Piper (Legal and Tax).

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Juriba acquires AppAvail to enable automated application management

BGF

Juriba, the leading provider of digital transformation IT command and control software has acquired AppAvail, a leading-edge application packaging and testing automation software platform, to add automated smoke testing, functional testing, User Acceptance Testing (UAT) as well as automated application packaging and management to its Evergreen IT Management solution, Juriba Dashworks.

Juriba is a fast-growth technology business that specialises in digital transformation software, providing innovative solutions for medium-sized to large corporates and multinational organisations. The company is the creator of Dashworks, a project ‘command and control’ platform for enterprises, which helps organisations manage end-user IT transformation and Evergreen IT projects with greater accuracy and speed, at a reduced cost.

Iain Fraser, CRO & Head of M&A at Juriba, said: “We are thrilled to welcome AppAvail to the Juriba family! Many of our larger customers struggle to keep pace with the ever-increasing velocity of technological change they must manage every day! As just one example, hundreds of applications can be automatically compatibility tested against a new OS over a weekend without any user intervention. With AppAvail becoming part of Juriba, IT managers can deliver End User IT change much faster with a significantly reduced business disruption.”

Barry Angell, CEO of Juriba said: “These new automated smoke testing, functional testing, UAT, and application management capabilities were an important puzzle piece that will make our Dashworks an even more powerful Evergreen IT Management solution — particularly for Windows 10 Servicing, Office 365 Servicing, and Patch Management Testing. Because of the already significant integration with Dashworks, our customers can accelerate their Windows 10 Servicing, Office ProPlus readiness and application packaging processes right away.”

The former AppAvail products, Automated Application Packaging (PKG+), Application Packaging Manager (APM), and Application Compatibility Engine (ACE), are now a part of the expanded Dashworks Application Manager solution with the smoke test and packaging modules available to purchase individually.

Craig Jones, Co-Founder of AppAvail said: “We are delighted to be joining the Juriba team. The complimentary nature of our technologies, alongside the dynamic and growth driven strategy that Juriba put forward is tremendously exciting both for the product and our joint customers. More than ever, customers require innovative, automated alternatives to antiquated processes and the combination of our software platforms brings a world class, end to end solution to the Evergreen IT market.”

Juriba is backed by BGF following an investment into the business earlier this year to support its expansion plans.

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EQT Infrastructure and Proximus form partnership to bring fiber to 1.5 million households in the Flemish Region of Belgium

eqt

  • EQT Infrastructure and Proximus sign joint venture agreement to build a fiber-to-the-home network for at least 1.5 million households and businesses in the Flemish Region of Belgium
  • EQT Infrastructure and Proximus are committed to invest significantly into the increased digitalization of the Belgian society
  • The JV will benefit from EQT Infrastructure’s vast fiber roll-out experience and Proximus’ unrivalled expertise in the Belgian telecom market, and together the parties aim at realizing a substantial increase of the fiber coverage in Flanders

The EQT Infrastructure V fund (“EQT Infrastructure”) and Proximus, Belgium’s largest telecom operator, are pleased to announce the signing of a partnership agreement. As part of this agreement, the two parties will form a new joint venture (JV) that will design, build and maintain a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network in Flanders. EQT Infrastructure will initially own 50.1 percent of the JV and Proximus will hold 49.9 percent.

EQT Infrastructure and Proximus have identified large opportunities in accelerating the build-out pace of the FTTH network in the Flemish Region of Belgium. FTTH is the fastest and most reliable broadband solution available and is instrumental in managing the increasingly growing internet bandwidth demands of the future. EQT and Proximus are committed to invest significantly into the JV over the coming years with the ambition to bring the required fiber connectivity to Flanders so that its residents and businesses can actively participate in the Gigabit Society.

The JV will benefit from the combination of EQT Infrastructure’s vast experience from developing strong fiber companies in Europe and North America, and Proximus’ unrivalled expertise in the Belgian telecom market and long-standing relationships with municipalities and housing associations. Together, the parties will create an efficient rollout machine to build a fiber network, which will be open and accessible to all operators. The JV intends to connect its first customers during 2021 and the overall goal is to bring fiber connectivity to at least 1.5 million households and businesses over the coming years. The JV will be supported by a strong board of directors with hands-on experience from fiber deployment in Belgium and other European markets.

Matthias Fackler, Partner at EQT Partners, said: “We are very happy to have found a strong partner in Proximus for this exciting fiber rollout opportunity in Belgium. As the leading investor in digital infrastructure, EQT sees the growing need for future-proof and reliable broadband access all over the European continent. Through this partnership, we look forward to facilitating digital inclusion and sustainable economic growth in Flanders and the Belgian society as a whole.”

Guillaume Boutin, CEO of Proximus, said: “I am very pleased that we have signed this final agreement with EQT Infrastructure. This will enable us to reinforce our leading position in multi-gigabit infrastructures, in an era where reliable, next-generation fixed and mobile connectivity has become more important than ever. It also illustrates our positive attitude towards cooperation and co-investment, which will be an important trigger to guarantee a faster, broader and more cost-efficient roll-out. I’d like to congratulate the teams involved on both sides, as this agreement marks another major step forward to build the most future-proof and open network for Belgium and bring high-speed connectivity solutions to every citizen”.

The closing of the transaction is expected in Q1 2021, subject to customary regulatory approvals.

With this transaction, EQT Infrastructure V is expected to be 15-20 percent invested (including closed and/or signed investments, announced public offers, if applicable, and less any expected syndication) based on its target fund size, and subject to customary regulatory approvals.

Contact
Matthias Fackler, Partner at EQT Partners and Investment Advisor to EQT Infrastructure, +49 89 25 54 99 0
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with more than EUR 75 billion in raised capital and over EUR 46 billion in assets under management across 16 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America with total sales of more than EUR 27 billion and approximately 159,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram

About Proximus
Proximus Group (Euronext Brussels: PROX) is a provider of digital services and communication solutions operating in the Belgian and international markets. Delivering communication and entertainment experiences for residential consumers and enabling digital transformation for enterprises, we open up a world of digital opportunities so people live better and work smarter. Thanks to advanced interconnected fixed and mobile networks, Proximus provides access anywhere and anytime to digital services and data, as well as to a broad offering of multimedia content. Proximus is a pioneer in ICT innovation, with integrated solutions based on IoT, Data analytics, cloud and security.

With 12,931 employees, all engaged to offer customers a superior experience, the Group realized an underlying Group revenue of EUR 5,686 million end-2019.

More info: www.proximus.com and www.proximus.be

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CVC Credit Partners prices its fifth CLO since June

Cordatus XIX increases CVC Credit Partners’ total new CLO issuance in 2020 to more than $2 billion

CVC Credit Partners (“CVC Credit”) is pleased to announce the pricing of Cordatus XIX, a Collateralized Loan Obligation (“CLO”) fund totalling €379 million arranged by Barclays.

This will be the fifth CLO fund raised by CVC Credit in 2020 and increases our aggregate global issuance for the year to c.$2.0 billion (c.€1.7 billion). It is also the third European CLO fund raised, following the closing of Cordatus XVII in June (€290 million) and Cordatus XVIII in November (€383 million), together these three funds total more than €1 billion.

Cordatus XIX was assembled in just six weeks from a warehouse which opened in October and will have a four-year reinvestment period (which is a market first in Europe post-COVID). As with previous Cordatus CLOs, the fund is primarily comprised of broadly syndicated First Lien Senior Secured Loans.

Guillaume Tarneaud, Senior Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at CVC Credit Partners, said: “We are delighted to have priced our third European CLO of the year and pleased to have constructed a robust portfolio by taking advantage of attractive loan prices pre US elections. This latest raising increases our aggregate CLO AUM in Europe to circa $7.5 billion.”

Gretchen Bergstresser, Global Head of Performing Credit at CVC Credit Partners, said: “Despite the challenging economic environment we have continued to grow our CLO business in 2020 and now have global CLO assets of more than $17 billion. We have a top class, transatlantic performing credit business, split evenly between London and New York and we hope our next U.S. focused CLO will come to market soon.”

Closing is expected in January 2021 and is subject to customary closing conditions.

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Neo Distribution joins Powersports Distribution Group (PDG)

Torqx Capital

Powersports Distribution Group (PDG) is proud to announce that it has concluded the purchase of the entire share capital of Neo Distribution (also known as Putoline Distribution) in the UK. With this acquisition PDG further strengthens its position as a National Distributor of premium motorcycle parts and accessories in the United Kingdom.

The purchase of Neo Distribution follows the acquisition of Bradbury Brothers and Rob Hunter in 2019, the combined Company now trading as Hoco Parts UK Ltd. from its Huddersfield facility.

John Hayden & Sally Hayden, Directors added; “We are delighted with this transaction and look forward to working together with our staff and the Hoco Parts UK team under the umbrella of Powersports Distribution Group. We are very happy that we have been able to conclude this deal even in these times of uncertainty. This a great opportunity for us and will strengthen the position of all our brands and help us to offer an even greater service to our existing UK dealer base.”

Tom Beyers, CEO of parent company PDG, said; “We are very pleased to welcome Neo Distribution to the Group and we look forward to further developing the Company together with John and Sally. The acquisition of Neo Distribution is an important step in the further development of our Hoco Parts UK platform, which we are actively expanding with a well-filled M&A pipeline still ahead of us.“

About Neo Distribution
Neo Distribution, which started as Putoline Distribution Limited, was bought by John Hayden & Sally Hayden in 2004. While keeping the focus on the exclusive distribution of Putoline Motorcycle Lubricants, Action air filters and maintenance products, they later added product groups which include Roof Motorcycle helmets and Kappa luggage, accessories and helmets. A combined sales staff of 13 people enthusiastically serve more than 1000 customers around the UK. The Company and its warehouse are located near Peterborough in the UK. For more information please visit: www.neodistribution.co.uk

About PDG
Powersport Distribution Group is a leading European group active in the distribution of parts and accessories for motorcycles, headquartered in Breda (the Netherlands). PDG‘s value proposition is to be the preferred partner for its customers and suppliers based on its broad premium product assortment, ease of ordering, availability, service level and perfect fit. PDG is proud to have the most professional and passionate individuals on board, to work with the industry’s most respected brands and to earn the trust of thousands of customers every day.

The Group currently consists of three divisions:
(1) General motorcycle aftermarket BtB distribution with Hoco Parts, a premium motorcycle parts & accessories distributor in the Benelux, France, Denmark and the UK.
(2) Category management with DC AFAM, an after-market supplier to European motorcycle parts distributors with transmission & battery brands like AFAM, Nitro and Shido.
(3) Vintage Parts Distribution with CMS, the leading global distributor of vintage Japanese motorcycle parts

PDG is majority owned by Torqx Capital Partners in partnership with management and former owners. For more information please visit: www.powersportsdistributiongroup.com

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Paragon invests in 7days Group

Paragon

Paragon Partners, one of the leading private equity firms in Europe, together with French co-investor Chequers Capital, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in 7days Group, a leading supplier of medical workwear. The management team, led by CEO Ulrich Dölken, will significantly re-invest as part of this transaction.

With the support of its new majority shareholders, Paragon and Chequers, 7days plans to further accelerate its growth trajectory in Germany and the rest of Europe in the coming years. 7days will benefit from continuing strong market trends such as the increasing professionalization of medical workwear and increased hygiene awareness in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which promise future growth potential in a fragmented market.

Marco Attolini, Managing Partner at Paragon, says: “We have been deeply impressed by the attractive market dynamics and the outstanding positioning that 7days has achieved in recent years through its highest quality products and strong customer focus. We look forward to actively shaping the further development and growth of the 7days Group in partnership with management.“

Ulrich Dölken and Carsten Meyer, CEO and CFO of 7days Group: “With the support of our new partners, Paragon and Chequers, we want to continue to achieve the highest level of customer satisfaction with high-quality workwear for medical professionals. We are pleased to have two strong partners at our side, who will help us further expand our market position in the coming years.“

About 7days
7days was founded in 1999 in Lotte near Osnabrück. Today, the company is a leading supplier of modern and innovative workwear for medical professions. 7days designs, produces and distributes a wide range of high-quality workwear, from tunics to lab coats, for more than 300,000 customers in the healthcare sector in twelve countries, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Scandinavia. 7days has a vertically integrated business model with diversified supply chains and distributes its products through a fully integrated multi-channel distribution platform, including both catalog marketing and e-commerce channels. This has enabled the company to achieve consistent growth in its German home market and internationally. Today, 7days employs 240 people and is expected to generate sales of over €40 million in 2020. Further details can be found on the company website: www.7days.de

About Paragon
Founded in 2004, Paragon is one of the leading independent private equity firms in Europe, with more than EUR 1.2 billion of equity under management. Paragon works closely with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth and operational excellence. The investment portfolio covers various industries and currently comprises 15 companies. The firm is based in Munich, Germany.

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DIF Capital Partners signed agreement to acquire 33.3% interest in Toledo Hospital PPP project

DIF

DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”) is pleased to announce that DIF Infrastructure VI (“DIF VI”) has signed a share purchase agreement with Spanish infrastructure company OHL to acquire 33.3% of the share capital of Nuevo Hospital de Toledo S.A. (“Toledo Hospital” or “the Project”) and an indirect 33.3% stake in the company that operates the Project.

The Project consists of the construction, maintenance, financing and operation of the non-clinical services of the Toledo Hospital. The Project benefits from an availability based payment scheme granted by Castilla-La Mancha Health Service (SESCAM) under a concession that will run until 2045. The construction of Toledo Hospital started in 2016: it was officially inaugurated in November 2020 and is expected to be fully operational during 2021. The Project was built by a joint venture between OHL, Acciona and ACS.

Toledo Hospital is considered to be one of the largest hospital complexes in Europe. It will serve more than 434,000 inhabitants living in 116 municipalities in the province of Toledo. The Project comprises seven buildings with a total floor area of more than 245,000 m2, which are organized around a central street that functions as a public space and connects the various hospital services. It houses 1,142 beds, of which 760 are for hospitalization and 382 for other uses, 368 consultation rooms, 97 examination rooms, 120 outpatient posts, 42 emergency observation posts and 65 treatment posts, and examination bays.

Fernando Moreno, DIF’s head in Spain: “DIF has an excellent and long lasting relationship with OHL. We are very glad that we have been able to further develop our relationship through this high profile transaction. We are honoured to and believe that we are well placed to operate this landmark infrastructure project together with the grantor and our project partners. The Project perfectly fits in our portfolio and should provide a stable and strong yield for our investors”.

Closing of the transaction is expected to take place in the first half of 2021.

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is a leading global independent fund manager, with €8.5 billion of assets under management across nine closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF Capital Partners invests in greenfield and operational infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

  • DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments with long-term contracted or regulated income streams including public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities, and (renewable) energy projects.
  • DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized economic infrastructure assets in the telecom, energy and transportation sectors.

DIF Capital Partners has a team of over 150 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact: Allard Ruijs, Partner; a.ruijs@dif.eu.

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AURELIUS closes acquisition of GKN Wheels & Structures

Aurelius Capital

Munich/London, November 26, 2020 – AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN: DE000A0JK2A8) announces the completion of its acquisition of GKN Wheels & Structures from GKN.

GKN Wheels & Structures is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of off-highway wheels and an innovative engineering solutions provider. The company employs c. 900 people worldwide with four manufacturing facilities in the UK, USA and Denmark in addition to test centres in Italy and the USA. In 2019, GKN Wheels & Structures generated global sales of over GBP170m, demonstrating the company’s eminent position as a market leading supplier to the global agricultural, construction, automotive, industrial and mining industries and many of the leading international original equipment manufacturers, distributors and integrators.

The transaction demonstrates AURELIUS expertise in executing complex cross-border carve-outs from large corporates. GKN Wheels & Structures will provide a strong platform for future add-on acquisitions. In the coming months, AURELIUS will support GKN Wheels & Structures in executing its carve-out from GKN, ensuring continuity in the company’s day-to-day operations, to establish the business under a new brand name and as a standalone entity.

AURELIUS was advised by Rothschild & Co (financial), DLA Piper (legal), Goodwin Procter (legal) and KPMG (tax).

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IK completes CSR-linked financing for Kersia’s acquisition

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ik-investment-partners

IK Investment Partners (“IK”) yesterday allocated the financing for the IK IX Fund to acquire a majority stake in Kersia. Kersia was created in 2016 and has become a global leader in biosecurity solutions for the food and beverage, farming and healthcare industries with a strong focus on sustainability. It also benefits from superior and differentiated innovation and R&D capabilities combined with leading operational and regulatory best-practices.

The acquisition of Kersia has been financed through a Corporate Social Responsibility (‘CSR’) – linked syndicated term loan B placed with institutional investors in the European leveraged loan markets.

The Company has an existing and far-reaching CSR strategy that centres around its ‘Act for Positive Impact’ program, embracing the need to establish a fully circular economy and in the long-term, to mitigate the negative impact companies can have on communities and the environment. The strategy is led by a dedicated CSR Operational Committee, supported by managers who are responsible for rolling the CSR program in each of the Group’s markets.

Kersia will adhere to three Key Performance Indicators (‘KPIs’) that will be tracked, monitored, and externally verified. Firstly, the Company will be required to implement systems to collect and recycle customers’ packaging. Secondly, Kersia will continue to increase its share of green products. Finally, it will maintain and expand its employee shareholding scheme.

The Company’s evaluation of these KPIs will be carried out by an independent auditor, which will determine the premium or discount on the margin of the debt and provide a financial incentive to achieve these goals.

Thierry Aoun, Capital Markets Director at IK said: “We are immensely proud to be one of the earliest adopters of this unique financing – the first of its kind for a company and for a financial sponsor in France – and we are excited to work with Kersia to deliver measurable outcomes across environmental and social considerations. By incorporating CSR-linked KPIs that are clear and binding, we are aligning Kersia’s ‘Act for Positive Impact’ program with IK’s ESG commitments for the benefit of all stakeholders.”

Dan Soudry, Managing Partner at IK and advisor to the IK IX Fund said: “Kersia’s business model revolves around biosecurity in crucial end-market, namely food, farm and healthcare, and for this reason CSR has been all-along at the heart of the Company’s strategy. As part of our ongoing partnership we will be supporting the management team’s continuing focus on these areas, and this innovative financing will play a key part in enabling Kersia’s sustainable growth.”

For further questions, please contact:

IK Investment Partners
Maitland/AMO
James McFarlane
Phone: +44 (0) 7584 142 665
jmcfarlane@maitland.co.uk

About IK Investment Partners

IK Investment Partners (“IK”) is a Pan-European private equity firm focused on investments in the Benelux, DACH, France, Nordics and the UK. Since 1989, IK has raised more than €13 billion of capital and invested in over 135 European companies. IK supports companies with strong underlying potential, partnering with management teams and investors to create robust, well-positioned businesses with excellent long-term prospects. For more information, visit www.ikinvest.com

About Kersia

Kersia is a global leader in biosecurity and food safety with value added products and solutions to prevent diseases or contamination in both animals and humans at every stage of the food supply chain. The company also offers solutions to the healthcare sector. Kersia operates in more than 120 countries with a workforce of over 1,500 people and a turnover of more than 300 million euros. For more information, visit www.kersia-group.com

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Ardian and A2A signed an agreement for potential partnership in hydrogen initiatives

Ardian

  • 26 November 2020 Infrastructure Milan, Italy
  • Milan, November 26, 2020 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, through EMS-Energy Management Services, its Italian platform for renewable and innovative energy sources, and A2A, a leading Italian utility, announced today that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate in green hydrogen development.

The partnership will aim to identify potential areas they can cooperate and work together on the production of green hydrogen from renewable sources.

“We are glad of the agreement we signed with Ardian, a further confirmation of the contribution that our company can and wishes to provide to achieve the important goals set by the European Union in terms of CO2 reduction to win the Climate Change challenge – said Renato Mazzoncini, CEO of A2A – This cooperation is an excellent opportunity to analyze the potential of green hydrogen and to develop business models that combine the environmental sustainability of renewable production with the fundamental characteristics of flexibility and programmability required for the optimal operation of the national electrical grid. This is another strategic element to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in which A2A is engaged.”

Mathias Burghardt, Head of Ardian Infrastructure, commented “This cooperation with A2A is a great opportunity to consolidate Ardian strategy, as well as promote the integration between green hydrogen production and renewable energy, especially in the south of Italy where Ardian is active since 2007 with several wind farms. Ardian currently manages about 5GW of renewable energy assets around the world, and has a historical presence in Italy with about 500MW installed capacity.” “We are firmly committed to sustainable investments in green energy, and green hydrogen is an important element of this as it is aligned with EU climate change targets. Ardian has the ambition to become a reference fund manager in green hydrogen and will continue contributing, together with renewable electricity, at attaining a zero-carbon-emission global economy by 2050”, he added.

With this agreement in place, Ardian and A2A are joining forces to identify the most suitable sites to integrate existing or planned renewable power plants and hydrogen production units. In addition, a variety of plant configurations will be assessed and tested to select a pilot plant. If agreed upon, this plant would then by developed by both parties in the next phase of the partnership.

ABOUT A2A

A2A The A2A Group is the largest Italian multiutility with more than 12,000 employees. Listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, the Group is a leader in Italy in the environmental sector along the entire value chain of waste management, from collection to recovery of materials and energy. As the second largest operator in Italy for installed capacity, A2A also manages the generation, sale and distribution of electricity and gas, district heating, waste collection and recovery, electric mobility, public lighting and integrated water service. The A2A Business Model aims to create sustainable and shared value over time for the company and for the reference communities: to operate with competitive advantage in the long term, including social, environmental and economic values.

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$100bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base.
Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.
Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 700 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of around 1,000 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.
Follow Ardian on Twitter @Ardian

Press contacts

ARDIAN – IMAGE BUILDING

ardian@imagebuilding.it +390289011300

A2A MEDIA RELATIONS

Giuseppe Mariano

ufficiostampa@a2a.eu +39 02 7720 4583

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