BeCapital, the €150m ($200m) corporate venturing fund of Belgium-based consultants BeCitizen, has taken a minority stake in a biogas company.
BeCapital has invested €11m and subscribed to a further capital injection of €14m next year in Verdesis, which is majority owned by France-based utility EDF Energies Nouvelles.
EDF Energies Nouvelles retain 65.5% of Verdesis, with an undisclosed remainder held by the biogas company’s founder, Xavier Lombard.
Verdesis was founded in 2006 and produces and operates anaerobic digestion and biogas power plants for use with agricultural and industrial waste products generating revenues of €5m.
Fabienne Demol, executive vice-president of new business development at EDF Energies Nouvelles and chairwoman of Verdesis, said: "EDF Energies Nouvelles’s mission is to support all innovative fields of renewables beyond its two main applications, wind and solar. "Biogas is an industry that is maturing technologically and that has a strong potential in the areas where we are already established, allowing for synergies between the teams of EDF EN and Verdesis. We are delighted that Xavier Lombard has partnered with BeCapital, a leading financial investor, in order to realize with us the ambitions that we have in the sector."
Alexander Schmitz, chief executive of BeCapital, added: "This renewable energy source perfectly meets the challenges of a more rational use of energy, a minimization of the impact on climate (limiting methane emissions) and the increased efficiency of resources (especially for biogas from landfills), while being respectful of human health and biodiversity."
Xavier Lombard and his associates were advised by Oddo Corporate Finance, Scotto & Associates and Altra Law.
EDF Energies Nouvelles and Verdesis were counseled by Linklaters.
BeCapital was advised by White & Case, PricewaterhouseCoopers, PolluxConsulting and Power Production System Consulting.