Spain-based oil group Repsol has acquired a fifth of AlgaEnergy, a local company for micro-algae research to help its production of biofuels and capture of carbon dioxide.
Repsol will have two representatives on its board. Repsol’s New Energy Ventures unit, which was set up April last year, bought the 20% stake in AlgaEnergy for an undisclosed sum. Half the stake came through a capital increase and the remaining 10% through direct purchase from AlgaEnergy’s co-founder, Augusto Rodriguez-Villa, who set up the company in 2007.
After Repsol acquired 20%, Rodriguez-Villa was left with 45%, Iberdrola Perseus-Venture Capital Company (20%), with the remaining 15% made up of independent shareholders.