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Mercom Capital Group, llc, a
global communications and consulting firm, today released its report on funding
and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity for the smart grid sector during
the second quarter of 2012.
.png) Smart grid venture capital
(VC) funding in Q2 2012 totaled $66 million in nine deals. VC funding levels remained
weak in the last three quarters (Q4 2011: 10 deals, $66 million; Q1 2012: 10
deals, $62 million).
Raj Prabhu, Managing Partner
at Mercom Capital Group commented, “Funding levels continue to be extremely
weak in the smart grid sector, a reflection of shifting business models as the
industry continues to struggle to understand customer needs and address
customer misconceptions along with security concerns and other issues.”
The top VC
deal in Q2 2012 was the $15 million raised by Power Plus Communications, a
broadband powerline communication systems company, followed by $11.3 million
raised by Tendril, an energy management company. Other top deals included $10.1
million raised by On-Ramp Wireless, a low-power monitoring and control
applications provider, $8 million each raised by Gridco, a developer of utility-scale
power management systems, and Navetas, an energy
measurement, management and conservation company, and $6 million raised by
TaKaDu, a provider of advanced monitoring
solutions for water distribution networks.
 Twenty-two different
investors participated in nine VC deals in Q2 2012, but only Siemens was
involved in multiple deals (two). There were only eight investors in Q1 2012.
Merger & Acquisition
(M&A) activity in Q2 2012 totaled $14 billion in seven transactions. Top
M&A transactions were the $11.8 billion acquisition of Cooper Industries,
a grid and equipment company by Eaton, the $2.3 billion acquisition of smart meter company Elster by UK
investment company Melrose and the $72 million acquisition of ZigBee systems
developer Ember by Silicon Labs.
For a complete list of Q2
2012 transactions in the Smart Grid sector, visit: http://www.mercomcapital.com/cleanenergyreports.php.
About
Mercom Capital Group
Mercom Capital Group, llc,
is a global communications and consulting firm focused exclusively on clean
energy and financial communications. Mercom’s consulting division advises
cleantech companies on new market entry, custom market intelligence and overall
strategic decision-making. Mercom’s consulting division also delivers highly respected
industry market intelligence reports covering Solar Energy, Wind Energy and
Smart Grid. Our reports provide timely industry happenings and
ahead-of-the-curve analysis specifically for C-level decision making. Mercom’s
communications division helps clean energy companies and financial institutions
build powerful relationships with media, analysts, government decision-makers,
local communities and strategic partners. For more information about Mercom
Capital Group, visit: http://www.mercomcapital.com.
To get a copy of Mercom’s popular market intelligence reports, visit: http://mercomcapital.com/market_intelligence.php
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