REG-Indian Energy Ltd First Day of Dealings
02 Sep 2009
RNS Number : 3671Y
Indian Energy Limited
02 September 2009
2nd September 2009
Indian Energy Limited
("Indian Energy", or the "Company")
PLACING OF ORDINARY SHARES, ADMISSION TO TRADING ON AIM
AND FIRST DAY OF DEALINGS
Indian Energy Limited (AIM: IEL.L), an independent power producer ("IPP")
focused on becoming a long-term operator of wind farms in India, announces that
admission of its ordinary shares to trading on AIM ("Admission") will take place
today. Arden Partners plc is acting as Nominated Adviser and Broker to the
Company. The Company has raised GBP 9.75 million before expenses through a
placing of 12,187,500 new ordinary shares of 1 pence each (the "Ordinary
Shares") at an issue price of 80 pence per Ordinary Share. On Admission, the
Company will have 25,347,690 Ordinary Shares in issue and will have a market
capitalisation of approximately GBP 20.28 million.
Highlights
* Indian Energy is focused on building a portfolio of wind power generating
assets in a fragmented market. Wind energy is a well developed part of renewable
energy production in India with considerable growth prospects and proven
technology;
* The Company seeks to provide investors with predictable, long-term cash flows
as it builds a portfolio of wind power generating assets in a fragmented
market;
* The Company currently owns and operates a 24.8 MW wind farm at Gadag, near
Hubli in Karnataka, and intends to own a portfolio of wind farms in India with
300 MW of annual installed generating capacity by the end of the 2012/13
financial year. In the financial year ended 31 March 2009, the Gadag Wind Farm
has generated positive cash flows and operating income, and the Directors
believe that this will continue through the 2009/10 financial year;
* India's economic growth rate over recent years has exacerbated the continuing
deficit of energy supplies. This and enabling legislation, which has created an
attractive tariff and fiscal structure for private sector investors, has
stimulated the independent power generation sector;
* The Government of India has set a current target of 10 per cent. by 2012, and
a target of 20 per cent. by 2020, of powerto be derived from renewable energy
sources;
* The Company will initially seek assets where key permits are in place, land
has been secured and construction is imminent. In addition, it intends to focus
on acquiring assets with attractive featuressuch as long-term power purchase
agreements ("PPA") and eligibility to apply for Clean Development Mechanism
("CDM") status, which should provide predictable,long-term cash flows;
* The Company's business is scalable and the Company has identified a number of
assets for potentialacquisition. These total approximately 200 MW, some of which
are operational and some are at anadvanced stage of their development.
Negotiations are well advanced in a number of cases;
* Once the Company has acquired a number of assets, it should be able to derive
economies of scale by obtaining improved terms from equipment suppliers, better
financing terms and an ability to sell someenergy to the merchant power market;
* The management of the Company have developed their expertise and skills over
a number of years.They have excellent relationships with the three largest wind
turbine manufacturers in India; and
* The fundraising will allow the Company to acquire a new project of
approximately 16.5 MW based on current valuations being sought by vendors.
PLACING STATISTICS
Placing Price 80 pence
Number of Existing Ordinary Shares 13,160,190
Total number of Placing Shares 12,187,500
Percentage of Enlarged Share Capital being placed 48 per cent.
Number of Ordinary Shares in issue immediately following 25,347,690
Admission
Market capitalisation of the Company upon Admission GBP 20,278,152
ISIN GG00B3M8H783
AIM SYMBOL IEL.L
Rupert Strachwitz, Managing Director of Indian Energy, said:
"We are delighted by the strong support we have received from both new and
existing shareholders for our listing on AIM. The support received is a clear
endorsement of the strong opportunity that Indian Energy has of becoming a major
IPP player in the established and growing Indian wind power market."
Further information, including the admission document, can be found on the
Company's website www.indian-energy.com or by contacting:
Indian Energy Rupert Strachwitz +44 (0)203 178 2763
Pankaj Agarwal
Arden Partners Chris Hardie +44 (0)207 398 1630
Nominated Adviser& Broker Fred Walsh
Matthew Armitt
PelhamPublic Relations Chelsea Hayes +44 (0)207 337 1500
Alex Walters
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Indian Energy is an independent power producer, focused on becoming a long-term
operator of wind farms in India. The Company currently owns and operates a
24.8 MW wind farm at Gadag, near Hubli in Karnataka, and intends to own a
portfolio of wind farms in India with 300 MW of annual generating capacity by
the end of the 2012/13 financial year. India is the fifth largest market for
wind power in the world. Wind power is India's primary source of renewable power
(excluding large hydro) and is also set to remain an important power source for
the country. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Indian Energy was incorporated on 16 March 2007 and was established to become a
long-term owner and operator of wind power generating assets so as to provide
predictable, long-term cash flows. Indian Energy has already acquired and now
operates a wind project in Karnataka which has installed generating capacity of
24.8 MW.
The medium term strategic aim of Indian Energy is to have 300 MW of annual
installed generating capacity by the end of the 2012/13 financial year. To
achieve this, Indian Energy intends to acquire operational assets and projects
at an advanced stage of their development where key permits have been obtained
and land secured.
When acquiring projects in development it intends to focus on those where the
period from acquisition to the commencement of generation is 12 to 18 months. As
a result, the Directors believe Indian Energy will have greater control over the
timing of the implementation of projects and that management will be able to
focus on the efficiency of plants and obtaining commercial and financial
benefits of scale as the portfolio of assets grows.
Indian Energy will subcontract the project construction to a local turnkey
contractor, often the equipment supplier, who will be contracted to deliver a
turnkey project in a fixed time scale with appropriate contractual penalties if
the timetable is not achieved. Management will oversee the stages of
construction. The Group has considerable experience of this among its senior
management.
Plant at Gadag
Indian Energy has invested in a 24.8 MW wind farm located at Gadag near Hubli,
in the State of Karnataka (the "Gadag Wind Farm").
The Gadag Wind Farm consists of 31 Enercon India E-53 800kW turbines and was
fully commissioned on 17 February 2009. The Company entered into a 20 year PPA
with BESCOM that provides for a fixed tariff of Rs. 3.40 per kWh for the first
10 years. The project is part of a larger wind farm which is proposed to have
228 wind turbines in total, of which approximately 190 are already installed.
The Gadag Wind Farm has been registered under the CDM and should produce up to
approximately 50,000 CERs per annum. These have been pre-sold to Standard Bank
for the period up to 2016. The initial price is E11.50 per CER up to 2012 and
E8.50 per CER thereafter.
The Gadag Wind Farm has a plant load factor ("PLF") of 25.7 per cent. (based on
a P50 analysis of the wind data supplied by Enercon India) and should allow the
production of 55.9 million kW of electricity per annum. The PLF varies over the
year, reflecting the seasonal variance in wind speeds. The highest PLFs are
achieved during the monsoon season which generally takes place between June and
October in each year.
The Gadag Wind Farm supplier is Enercon India, which is one of the three largest
wind turbinemanufacturers in India along with Suzlon and Vestas. Enercon India
is a joint venture between Enercon GmbH and the Mehra Group.
The Indian Energy Business Model
Indian Energy expects to secure its wind power generating assets from a variety
of sources. Firstly, it will actively seek to acquire existing operational
assets. These projects will be sourced from leading turnkey contractors who
already hold completed projects on their books or from existing investors in the
market who are seeking an exit. The Directors believe that Indian Energy has
developed a network from which it can source these opportunities.
Secondly, Indian Energy will also seek to buy projects that are ready for
construction to commence, with consents obtained and the terms of the PPA
agreed. These are sourced from the key suppliers in the market.
Indian Energy has a well defined investment process that enables it to screen
projects against its investment criteria and then select those that meet the
investment requirements for further analysis. The Company intends to follow a
disciplined investment process, which ought to minimise risk and deploy the
Company's capital effectively to generate early cash flows to the Company.
Once a project has been approved for further analysis, a comprehensive due
diligence process, using external advisers, is completed. Indian Energy plans to
ensure that all key permits and land acquisitions are secured before it enters
into a turnkey contract and before committing to capital expenditure.
Once a turnkey contract has been signed, Indian Energy project manages and
expedites the turnkey contractor both on a corporate and site level, thereby
ensuring that its projects are completed in a timely fashion.
Board of Directors
John Wallinger - Non-Executive Chairman. John has been a consultant to UBS AG
since his retirement, having been an executive director of UBS, and worked at
UBS AG and its precursor companies since 1976. During his time there he was
Vice-Chairman of S.G. Warburg International, where he was Global Head of Equity
Sales. and is now Non-executive Chairman of Zebedee European Fund Limited, and
Zebedee Emerging Market (EMEA) Fund Limited, both listed on the Irish Stock
Exchange and Zebedee Focus Fund Limited and Kingsbridge Capital Advisers
Limited, both unlisted. He is also a director of Jupiter European Opportunities
Trust Plc, listed on the London Stock Exchange, and JEOT Securities Ltd, an
unquoted subsidiary. He also spent several years adding a brokerage business to
the Swiss Bank Corporation's (now UBS) Delhi and Mumbai corporate and trade
finance businesses, as well as advising for some years on the UTI India Access
Fund, a tracker fund following the Indian equity market. John was a member of
the Association of Institutional Investment Management & Research.
Rupert Strachwitz - Managing Director. Prior to co-founding Indian Energy,
Rupert was the Managing Partner of CB Equity Partners, based in Munich a
specialist investment firm focusing on debt and equity transactions. Rupert
started his career in insurance, initially at a Lloyd's broking house and went
on to be the Special Risks Underwriter at Frankona Ruckversicherungs AG in
Munich. In 1996 he joined a media finance advisory firm in London, where he was
director responsible for risk management. In 2000 he moved to Dresdner Kleinwort
Capital ("DrKC"), the private equity division of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein,
and was responsible for DrKC's structuring and placement of alternative asset
funds, including its sponsorship of the Fine Art Fund. In 2002 he co-founded,
with James Pockney, Kingsbridge Capital Limited, an FSA authorised private
equity management business that specialises in mid-market buy-outs and
distressed situations, predominately in Germany. Rupert has been involved in
several start-up firms, in which he remains a shareholder. He is a member of the
Securities Institute.
Dr. Pankaj Agarwal - Director Business Development. Pankaj has extensive
experience in the business development and commercialisation of new technologies
in the renewable energy and cleantech sectors. Prior to co-founding Indian
Energy he founded Panitek GmbH, a renewable energy advisory firm. Previously, he
worked for a Dutch subsidiary of Metrohm AG, a Swiss analytical instrument
manufacturer, where he was responsible for international business development.
Pankaj has also worked as a research scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he consulted for energy,
alternative power, and new material development organisations in North America,
Western Europe, and South Asia. He has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the
University of Florida, Gainesville and an MBA from the Rotterdam School of
Management, Erasmus Graduate School of Business Netherlands, with a focus on
globalisation and sustainable development. Pankaj has a Bachelor in Chemical
Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India.
James Pockney - Non-Executive Director. James is an emerging market specialist
with significant experience of investing in, financing and growing early stage
companies. He started his career on the Far Eastern Equities desk at Swiss Bank
Corporation, now UBS AG, and then moved to set up the Far Eastern investment and
trading division for a private Jersey based Investment Company. In 1995, he
founded General & Oriental Investments Limited ("G&O"), a private investment
company, that specialises in investing in new issues of securities on a global
basis. In 2002, he co-founded Kingsbridge Capital Limited. In 2004, he
co-founded Baltic Petroleum Limited, which is now listed on AIM as Baltic Oil
Terminals Plc. He is currently a director of G&O, Saliston Limited, a property
investment company, and J.C. Pockney & Co. Limited.
Martyn Henley-Roussel - Non-Executive Director. Martyn worked at Kleinwort
Benson Guernsey from 1994 to 2000, where he was Head of Portfolio Management. He
became a director of Kleinwort Benson Asset Management Limited in 2000. From
2002 to 2006 he worked as an investment manager at Fortis, and was also a member
of the advisory committee for a substantial family trust. During his period at
Fortis, Martyn had specific responsibility for collective investment scheme
investment analysis and helped design Fortis' multi-manager funds model for the
sterling area. He is currently an independent consultant and director of a
number of companies including two London traded closed ended Funds; Ceres
Agriculture Fund Limited and Signet Global Fixed Income Strategies Limited.
Martyn is a member of the Securities Institute and has a BA in Economics.
Key Management
Santanu Bagchi - Director Operations. Prior to joining Indian Energy, Santanu
was a Director of BP Alternative Energy where he was responsible for Business
Development in India and Middle East. Whilst at BP, Santanu established BP's
renewable energy operations in India, including successfully recruiting a high
quality team for the successful delivery of the alternative energy projects and
setting up the first BP wind power project in Asia. Prior to this role, Santanu
headed the Power Generation & Offshore division of Castrol/BP in India, Middle
East and South Asia. Prior to joining BP, he worked at Bharat Heavy Electrical
Limited where he was involved in the management, execution and commissioning of
large power projects in India consisting of approximately 4500 MW of capacity.
Santanu holds a Mechanical Engineering Degree from Bengal Engineering and
Science University.
Herbert Kroll - Special Advisor Operations. Herbert has spent the majority of
his career in senior management positions in the Indian operations of European
companies. From 1974 to 1995 he worked for Robert Bosch GmbH and from 1988 was
Managing Director of Mico-Bosch (Pvt) Limited, the Bosch joint venture operation
in India with 12,000 employees. From 1995 to 2000 he was joint Managing
Director of Schlafhorst Engg, a company manufacturing and distributing machinery
for the textile industry in India and until 1997 served as Deputy Chairman of
Roland Berger Consultants in India. Herbert is currently a management adviser on
Indo-German business and President of the Indian Institute in Munich.
Ashish Tiwari - General Manager Projects. Ashish has over 17 years of experience
in Power and Wind Energy Projects in India, particularly Project Management,
Business Development, Design and Construction of Road and Heavy foundations,
Erection & Commissioning of WTGs, Power Evacuation Lines, Site Selection Survey
and Investigation, Project Monitoring, Power Purchase Agreement with SEBs and
Private Parties, Regulatory & CDM affairs, Acquisition of Private, Govt. &
Forest Land, Wind Resource Assessment, Micrositing, Project Execution and
Construction Supervision with knowledge of WAsP, NRG-Microsite etc. He holds a
Bachelor of Law (LL.B.) from Barkatullah University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh and
a Masters in Civil Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology & Science,
Pilani.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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