Ventizz and HOCHTIEF set up joint venture for offshore wind farms
Ventizz Capital Partners and HOCHTIEF Solutions together want to acquire concessions, develop and sell farms
St. Gallen/Switzerland - February 20, 2012. With economic effect from February 1, 2012, Ventizz Capital Partners and HOCHTIEF Solutions have set up a joint venture for the development of offshore wind farms. The two partners each hold a 50 percent interest in the company named HOCHTIEF Offshore Development Solutions S.à.r.l. The partners are aiming to tap further earnings potential in the high-growth market for offshore wind energy. Plans include, for example, to acquire and develop wind farm concessions and capitalize on the resulting value growth by selling them on before construction begins. The new joint venture will focus on readying the subsequent construction of the wind farms in a way that significantly reduces the risk of cost overruns and delays. This will benefit the companies that later go on to construct and operate the wind parks at the sites concerned, avoiding risks seen on projects currently in progress. The joint venture will thus help advance the German government's target of 10,000 megawatts of installed capacity in the German offshore wind power market by 2020.
Upon completion of project development, wind park concessions will be sold to the future operators such as energy suppliers and public utilities, financial investors and, in increasing numbers, large industrial companies. These clients benefit from the offshore management expertise provided and are able to build the wind farms following their development more efficiently and reliably. The lack of needed management capacity is still a substantial obstacle to growth in the offshore wind power market.
The joint venture pools the competencies of two partners that complement each other perfectly. HOCHTIEF is one of the most important players in the booming market for the construction of offshore wind farms. The Group performs construction and logistics services for a number of German wind farms. In addition, the company can draw on many years of experience in port construction, maritime civil engineering and offshore logistics. HOCHTIEF operates its own jack-up platforms and is currently building one of the world's most powerful installation vessels, the 'Innovation,' together with a partner. With the joint venture, the Group aims to add to its own value chain: Alongside the traditional construction of wind farms and the related logistics, it plans to also acquire concessions for such projects going forward, develop them and sell them after an increase in value has been achieved, as practiced in the property development business.
Ventizz Capital Partners is a leading private equity investor in the German-speaking regions for technology-oriented growth companies. Since being set up in 2000, the company has made as many as 41 investments and initiated or provided consultancy to a total of four funds with a combined capital of EUR 675 million. The company's focus is on strategic and operative development of the target companies and on their growth. By setting up the joint venture, Ventizz is systematically continuing to expand its offshore wind segment.
Ullrich Reinke, Head of Energy and Infrastructure Solutions at HOCHTIEF Solutions: 'Offshore wind farms offer enormous growth potential. With the new company, we also want to contribute our know-how during the early development phases of offshore projects and thus augment value creation in this future market. Everything taken together will make for a continuous project pipeline for the Group, with high earnings potential.'
'We are delighted to have found in HOCHTIEF a partner who is an experienced offshore player and who wants to help shape this growing market together with us. This creates a clear win-win situation for both companies,' says Willi Mannheims, partner and member of the Executive Board of Ventizz Capital Partners Advisory AG, the exclusive advisor to the Ventizz Private Equity Funds.
HOCHTIEF Offshore Development Solutions is already planning its first project: Following the setup of the joint venture, Ventizz is bringing the offshore wind farm Nautilus II into the company. PNE Wind AG had sold Nautilus II to Ventizz last year and will continue to support the development project until approval by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) is obtained. HOCHTIEF Offshore Development Solutions has also set its sights on four other offshore wind farms in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the North Sea and Baltic.
Company profiles
About Ventizz Capital Partners
Ventizz Capital Partners was established in 2000 and has offices in St. Gallen, Zurich, Düsseldorf and Vienna. Ventizz Capital Partners is the exclusive advisor to the Ventizz Private Equity Funds, which provide growth capital and buyout financing for high tech companies in Western Europe. Four partners and a team of 15 additional professionals currently advise four funds with a total capital under management of EUR 675m. Ventizz Capital Fund IV L.P. is the largest of four funds established so far. The Fund was closed at the end of 2007 after only six months of fundraising, during which EUR 450m were raised, making it one of the biggest private equity funds in the segment of growth capital and mid-size tech buyouts in the German-speaking region.
Ventizz Funds have to date invested in 41 companies with a focus on the areas of renewable energy/clean tech, high-tech manufacturing industries, medical technology and information and communication technology. In addition to a variety of trade sales, Ventizz has so far floated four portfolio companies (ersol, SAF, PV Crystalox Solar and recently exceet) at European stock exchange markets.
On the internet at www.ventizz.com
About HOCHTIEF
HOCHTIEF is one of the leading international providers of construction-related services. With more than 70,000 employees and a sales volume of EUR 20.16 billion in FY 2010, the company is represented in all the world's major markets. The Group's service offering in the fields of development, construction, services, concessions and operation covers the entire life cycle of infrastructure projects, real estate and facilities. In the USA, the biggest construction market in the world, HOCHTIEF is the No. 1 general builder via its subsidiary Turner and, with Group company Flatiron, ranks among the most important players in the field of transportation infrastructure construction. With its subsidiary Leighton (HOCHTIEF share around 54 percent), the Group is market leader in Australia. Because of its engagement for sustainability, HOCHTIEF has been listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes since 2006.
On the internet at www.hochtief.com/press
HOCHTIEF Solutions consolidates the core business of the HOCHTIEF Group in Europe and in selected regions worldwide. The company plans, develops, builds, operates and manages real estate and infrastructure facilities. HOCHTIEF Solutions is the management company of the Group's Europe division which employed around 15,000 people around the globe in fiscal 2010. In many regions and segments, the company is a market and innovation leader.
On the internet at www.hochtief-solutions.com
Press contact:
CNC AG
Markus Wieser
Tel.: +49. 89. 599 458 114
E-Mail: Markus.Wieser@cnc-communications.com
