Wind VC Funding Up with $57 Million After Weak Second Quarter

Mercom Reports on Wind Sector Funding and M&A Activity for Q3 2012 

Mercom Capital Group, llc, a global clean energy communications and consulting firm, today released its report on funding and mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity for the wind sector during the third quarter of 2012. 

Venture Capital (VC) funding in the third quarter of 2012 amounted to $57 million in six deals compared to a weak second quarter where $17 million went into three deals. Disclosed VC deals this quarter included $21.5 million raised by Mainstream Renewable Power and $15.3 million raised by Trishe Developers, both wind project developers. 

Announced large-scale project funding in Q3 2012 totaled $1.1 billion in 11 deals, all going to onshore projects.

Top large-scale project funding deals announced in the third quarter included $350 million raised by Nareva Renouvelables and Kharabel FZE for its 300 MW Tarfaya Wind Project in Morocco, $165 million raised by Alto Holding for its 120 MW Karaburun Wind Farm in Turkey, and $141 million raised by NuPower Renewables for its 150 MW onshore wind farm in India. Other top deals were $86 million raised by InfraVest and wpd for its 53 MW Tongyuan Wind Project in Taiwan and the $85 million loan to Newcom for its 50 MW Salkhit Wind Farm in Mongolia.

Only one of 18 large-scale project funding investors, KfW IPEX-Bank, was involved in multiple deals in Q3 2012. KfW IPEX-Bank was also involved in multiple deals in Q2 2012. 

Corporate Merger and Acquisition (M&A) activity in Q3 2012 amounted to $53 million in 11 transactions compared to $93 million in five transactions in Q2 2012. Disclosed M&A transactions this quarter were the $33.2 million acquisition of Shear Wind, a developer of wind energy properties in Canada, by Sprott Power Corp, and the $20 million acquisition of certain assets of Otter Tail Corporation’s DMI Industries, a manufacturer of wind towers, by Trinity Industries. 

There were four debt funding deals announced in Q3 2012 totaling $359 million. Suzlon Energy raised $281 million in short-term loans to repay holders of its foreign convertible bonds, signing an 18 month loan facility with 11 lenders. Mainstream Renewable Power secured a credit facility of $51 million from Macquarie Group. Finally, Broad Wind Energy closed on a $20 million credit facility with AloStar Business Credit, and Wind Power Energia received a $7 million loan from Inter-American Investment Corporation. 

For a complete list of Q3 2012 transactions in the Wind sector, visit: http://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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