ABB acquires Insert Key Solutions

December 9, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has agreed to acquire the business of Insert Key Solutions (IKS), a privately owned specialist software provider, adding IKS’ solutions to its recently acquired Ventyx software portfolio. The move will create a comprehensive solution set for asset and work management, maintenance optimization, and equipment reliability.

Based in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, in the United States, IKS specializes in delivering software solutions for process improvement, increased equipment reliability and operational performance in power generation plants, and transmission and distribution networks. The company has an extensive customer base in the thermal and nuclear power sectors, and a staff of 50 people.

“Insert Key Solutions provides a highly complementary offering to our solutions for the power industry,” said Jens Birgersson, head of the Network Management business within ABB’s Power Systems division. “It significantly strengthens our software-based solutions, which optimize equipment reliability, asset health and maintenance services for asset-intensive industries.”

“We are excited to become a part of the Ventyx team and the ABB family. We not only share complementary solutions, but also the same dedication to excellence and customer focus,” said Evan Niemkiewicz, President and CEO of Insert Key Solutions. “This integration enables us to fortify our infrastructure and product lifecycles and to take our solutions to a broader set of industries and geographies. I am confident it is the best path forward for our customers and our company.”

ABB plans to retain the IKS team and will place IKS executives in key roles within the Ventyx team responsible for Asset Suite, eSOMS (asset and operations management software), and IKS solutions.

Switzerland, Zurich & USA, Chadds Ford, PA

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EnerNOC to pay $26.5M for Global Energy Partners

December 9, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

EnerNOC has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Global Energy Partners, an industry leader in designing and implementing utility energy efficiency and demand response programs. Through this acquisition, EnerNOC will expand its addressable market and will be able to deliver a broader, more integrated portfolio of world-class applications and services to its utility partners and commercial, institutional, and industrial (C&I) customer base.

“Our utility customers and prospects view demand-side resources as an integral component of their overall strategies,” said Tim Healy, Chairman and CEO of EnerNOC. “By joining forces with the Global Energy Partners team, EnerNOC is strengthening its ability to capitalize on this attractive market opportunity. We are eager to welcome Global Energy Partners and the utilities that it works with into the EnerNOC family, while at the same time, significantly enhancing the go-to-market reach for Global Energy Partners’ world-class solutions.”

“EnerNOC’s reputation for superior customer service, reliability, and technology applications and services is directly aligned with Global Energy Partners’ DNA,” said John Kotowski, CEO of Global Energy Partners. “Our combined experience working with hundreds of utilities throughout North America, our complementary technologies, and our shared commitment to partnership with our utility customers will empower us to deliver the industry’s most innovative and proven solutions.”

Global Energy Partners, a 55-person enterprise headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, operates across the United States. Its past and present clients include Pacific Gas & Electric , Southern California Edison,  Bonneville Power Administration, Duquesne Light Company, the Midwest ISO, Inland Power & Light, Oklahoma Gas & Electric, and Portland General Electric, among others.

Some immediate areas where the joining of EnerNOC and Global Energy Partners is anticipated to drive increased value include:

Integrated Commercial and Industrial Energy Efficiency and Demand Response Programs: Global Energy Partners has extensive experience designing and implementing turn-key, performance-based energy efficiency programs for utilities targeted at C&I customer segments. Combined with EnerNOC’s industry-leading presence in the C&I demand response market, EnerNOC will be able to better meet utilities’ growing needs for integrated energy efficiency and demand response solutions.

AutoDR: EnerNOC currently manages one of the largest portfolios of automated C&I demand response resources. Global Energy Partners has been an industry pioneer in implementing innovative AutoDR solutions, and has worked closely with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to develop and test the OpenADR communications protocol. EnerNOC anticipates that AutoDR will become increasingly important to utilities and grid operators as more intermittent renewable resources are added to generation portfolios.

Customized Services: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory forecasts that utilities will spend as much as $12.4 billion on demand-side solutions by 2020. Global Energy Partners’ diverse range of services will enable EnerNOC to play a bigger role in the lifecycle of utility demand-side management initiatives, from energy planning and load analysis, to program design, implementation and evaluation.

The acquisition is scheduled to close in early 2011. EnerNOC anticipates this acquisition to be neutral to earnings in 2011, and accretive in 2012.

EnerNoc has now bought nine companies, including Cogent Energy (building management – Concord, CA) and eQuilibrium Solutions (carbon accounting – Boston, MA).
 
USA, Boston, MA & Walnut Creek, CA

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Advantage IQ acquires The Loyalton Group

December 9, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Strategic energy management solutions company Advantage IQ, is to acquire The Loyalton Group.

The Loyalton Group is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, and has additional offices in Washington, DC and Houston, TX. The company provides energy procurement and price risk management solutions. The Loyalton Group is strong in the hospitality industry, with a particular presence in the multi-family, senior living, education and food service sectors.

Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, The Loyalton Group, with revenues in excess of $7.5 million for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2010, will become part of Advantage IQ. The transaction will be funded entirely by Advantage IQ and is expected to be slightly accretive to earnings in 2011. The transaction is expected to close before Jan. 1, 2011, and is subject to customary closing conditions.

Commenting on the acquisition, Jeff Heggedahl, president and chief executive officer of Advantage IQ, said, “This acquisition shows further progress in our strategy to expand market share, while continuing to provide clients with a deep bench of expertise to help them manage energy consumption and reduce costs.”

He continued, “The Loyalton Group has a roster of world-class clients. Their proven ability to secure aggressive energy pricing and develop unique risk management solutions will augment Advantage IQ’s well-established procurement services for its clients, many of which are Fortune 1000 companies.”

Services offered include utility expense management, energy procurement and price risk management, facility optimization and sustainability consulting. To support its national client base, Advantage IQ plans to maintain The Loyalton Group regional offices in Minneapolis, Minn., and Washington, D.C. Advantage IQ’s Heggedahl will continue to lead the organization, and Loyalton co-founders Michael R. Vaughan and Martin B. Sieh will assume roles on Advantage IQ’s senior leadership team. 

“Advantage IQ is a leader in the energy management space, and we are thrilled to be joining this outstanding group of professionals,” said Michael R. Vaughan, chief executive officer of The Loyalton Group. “The combined strength of both organizations will create opportunities for clients to further reduce expenditures, manage risk and leverage their sustainability initiatives for a competitive advantage.”

With this acquisition, Advantage IQ continues to build upon its already significant position in the industry, growing its valuable electric usage database of more than 25,000 MW of commercial and industrial load.  

Advantage IQ is a subsidiary of Avista Corp. (NYSE: AVA)

USA, Spokane & Minneapolis, MN

More Energy Services Stories

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Cinven’s acquisition of Spice plc is complete

December 5, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Cilantro Acquisitions Limited, a company formed at the direction of funds managed and advised by Cinven Limited has acquired Spice PLC.

Fusion DigiNet reported the announcement of The Scheme of Arrangement on 27 September 2010. The Scheme is now Effective.

As part of the terms of the acquisition, non-executive directors, Peter Cawdron, Julie Baddeley, Michael Shallow and Timothy Huddart, have resigned from the Spice Board.

The listing of the Spice Shares on the Official List of the UK Listing Authority, and their admission to trading on the main market of the London Stock Exchange, will be cancelled.

Spice Shareholders will receive 70 pence in cash for each Spice Share, valuing Spice at approximately £251.1 million.

UK, Morley, Leeds

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OpTerra Energy Group Acquires Aircon Energy

November 23, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

OpTerra Energy Group, a newly formed, energy service company, has acquired Aircon Energy, a comprehensive energy services company serving the California market. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Aircon Energy is a 36-year-old company based in Sacramento, CA that designs and constructs energy efficiency and renewable energy projects for large facilities of public and private sector customers.  Aircon has significant experience implementing energy conservation and generation solutions for cities, counties and school districts in California and surrounding states.  Aircon also assists clients in securing utility rebates, grants, and third-party project financing to further enhance the value of its projects.

OpTerra was established to become a leading national ESCO offering a comprehensive array of energy conservation services and technologies to public and private sector customers.  OpTerra is backed by the GFI Energy Group of Oaktree Capital Management. 

“We are pleased to join OpTerra’s growing portfolio of regional ESCOs,” said Don Rasberry, Aircon Energy president.   “Access to OpTerra’s operating platform will help us accelerate our growth and expand our service offerings.  The financial backing of Oaktree-managed funds will allow us to implement the larger projects our customers are increasingly demanding.”

“The Aircon team is an excellent fit for the OpTerra platform, and this transaction will enable them to expand their high quality coverage of California’s growing market for energy services,” said Raouf Abdel, OpTerra CEO. “OpTerra is rolling out a comprehensive set of service capabilities over a national footprint to provide energy efficiency and clean energy solutions to public and private sector customers.”

USA, Denver, CO & Sacramento, CA

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Cleantech startup SenseLogix raises £1 million

November 10, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

SenseLogix, a provider of retrofit energy reduction products, has secured a 1M series A investment round led by international venture capital firm, Beringea and regional equity company, North Star Equity Investment Partners. The series A funding round contains a mixture of private and public funding and was completed to accelerate company growth and support new technology developments.

The round also included support from the Welsh Assembly Government, which is directly linked to the creation of new jobs. SenseLogix plans to create more than 12 new jobs over the next 12 months.

Jonathan Luke, SenseLogix’s Chief Executive Officer, says: We are delighted to announce that to build upon recent successes the company has closed a series A investment round to accelerate company growth and support future technology developments. It is exciting times at the company, following our successful launch at SustainabilityLive earlier this year, our recent award win, and our securing a product partnership with Marshall Tufflex for a range of pre-wired, SenseLogix powered cable management solutions.

Luke continued: What is extremely encouraging is that the investment has been completed in difficult economic market conditions, which is a testament to our technology and business model. We have seen strong early stage market traction from both end users and service partners, and we are confident our technology will provide good energy savings to end users and assist our service partners in providing enhanced, low carbon energy services to their clients.

The investment round will see the appointment of Stuart Veale, Managing Partner, Beringea, as a non-executive board member.

UK, Conwy, North Wales

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Global Green Carbon Corporation acquires Optim Consult

November 10, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Global Green Carbon Corporation has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Optim Consult. Optim is a carbon emission reduction and carbon asset service provider for the global carbon market. Global Green Carbon is a world-wide project developer of carbon financed AFOLU (Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use) initiatives.

Optims’ clientele currently consists of global entities such as CEMEX, Gas Natural, Forestal Mininco, EPM, ECOPETROL and USAID to name but a few.  Optim dominates the carbon arena with a portfolio of over 30 carbon emission reduction projects in both the compliance and voluntary markets generating over 6 million tCO2e.

“The acquisition of Optim provides Global Green Carbon diversification into all sectors of the carbon market,” commented Christopher Werner, Chief Executive Officer of GGC.  “Optim benefits from diversification into forestry and agroforestry markets with revenues beyond carbon.  Our melded respective strengths provides a solid platform for growth and positions us as key players as the global carbon markets mature.”

In signing the Definitive Agreement, Juan Andres Lopez, President of Optim Consult commented, “We are very optimistic about this union and in particular the ability to leverage our respective strengths in the developing US market.  Our broad scope of carbon emission reduction experience and asset management and their expertise in international forestry and finance will ensure that both companies are strengthened as the markets evolve.”

USA, Chicago, CA

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Climate Energy acquires Solutions 4 Energy

November 7, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

According to Private Equity Wire, Carbon reduction agency Climate Energy Holdings has acquired Solutions 4 Energy, a UK-based energy funding and project management provider.

Climate Energy says the acquisition will allow it to create a more robust business in order to weather future changes in funding availability and improve its geographical reach.

Climate Energy managing director Andrew Holmes says: “We are delighted to be purchasing a business which has at its core, a responsibility to reduce carbon emissions. We saw this as an opportunity to further consolidate our position in a very exciting but volatile sector. This acquisition positions our group to deliver a wider range of funding and services and will ensure that our customer base will be rewarded by the increased resources.”

Climate Energy was supported by Climate Change Capital Private Equity in a management buy out in July 2009.

Like Climate Energy, Solutions 4 Energy is an organisation delivering a range of services to engage householders, businesses and communities in environmental and social improvement. Operating nationally across Great Britain, Solutions 4 Energy provides funding and project management services to social housing providers and contractors for the delivery of energy related projects.

Terry Bentley, director of Solutions 4 Energy, says: “Our company has been developing and delivering energy efficiency projects for various initiatives including the current CERT programme. We have assisted with the energy efficiency improvement of thousands of homes in the UK and our funding services have enabled us to locate and deliver the most beneficial funding available to clients. We are very proud of our accomplishments and are delighted to have investment from a company which understands our business and market.”
UK, Essex & Suffolk

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Sempra Energy Solutions sold to Noble Group

November 3, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

 

Sempra Energy and The Royal Bank of Scotland today completed the sale of the San Diego-based Sempra Energy Solutions unit of their RBS Sempra Commodities joint venture to Noble Group.

The final purchase price was $318 million in cash, plus the assumption of all debt.

The remaining principal North American assets of RBS Sempra Commodities are being sold to JP Morgan Ventures Energy. That transaction, which was announced Oct. 7, is expected to close next month. In July, Sempra Energy and RBS completed the sale of the joint venture’s global metals and oil businesses, and European natural gas and power businesses to JP Morgan Chase & Co.

Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2009 revenues of more than $8 billion. The Sempra Energy companies’ 13,800 employees serve about 25 million consumers worldwide.

USA, San Diego, CA

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ENER-G Group looking to fund growth – rules out IPO

October 27, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

According to NewEnergyWorldNetwork.com, UK sustainable energy business ENER-G Group is looking at ways to fund a future strategic growth programme and plans to appoint financial advisers to explore its initial financing options but says rumours circulating about a possible initial public offering (IPO) were false.

UK, Manchester

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