Infrastructure - Renewable Energy,
by Omnes Capital

Investing in electricity and heat production through renewable energies
Financing Europe’s energy transition since 2006

Key player in renewable energy across Europe

  • Capenergie, the first fund in France dedicated to renewable energy and energy efficiency created in 2006
  • €1.2 billion assets under management, €900 million invested
  • Focus on renewable energies generating electricity and heat at a competitive cost (onshore wind, solar, hydro, heating networks)
  • More than 200 European independent power producers in Omnes active sourcing network
  • European approach (France, Germany, Nordics, Italy, Spain, Belgium etc.)
  • Investment approach focused on long-term partnerships with SMEs (IPPs & developers)

Flexible strategy combining institutional funds and dedicated mandates

  • Capenergie funds dedicated to decentralized renewable energy production assets in Europe:
    - Capenergie 1, 2, 3 and 4 funds dedicated to investments in green energy production assets and in independent power producers (greenfield and brownfield)
    - Capenergie 2 Infrastructure, fund dedicated to green energy production assets
  • €700 million discretionary mandates dedicated to brownfield assets

A STILL FRAGMENTED EUROPEAN MARKET SHIFTING TO MORE MARKET INTEGRATION

  • Buoyant greenfield and brownfield markets with more than 20 GW annual capacity expected to be built in Europe between 2020 and 2030 with many consolidation opportunities
  • Evolution of market towards less subsidies and more exposure to merchant risk, with grid parity becoming a reality in many European markets
Key figures
13
years’ experience in the market
9
investors (6 nationalities)
€1,200
million
in assets under management or under mandate
> 45
investments completed since 2006
> 25
EXITS SINCE 2006
> 4
GW
OF INSTALLED CAPACITY (THE EQUIVALENT OF THREE NUCLEAR REACTORS)
Business Case
"Earlier in my career, I worked as much as I possibly could. Today, I realize that with a better balance between your professional and private life, you can actually achieve more."
Kalle
Pykälä,
Chairman and Co-Founder
of Ilmatar
> Read more
Ilmatar
MeetWhat drove you to found Ilmatar seven years ago?According to you, what makes a good leader?How do you see your collaboration with Omnes?
Meet

Omnes and Ilmatar recently launched a joint venture to build and operate wind power projects in the Nordic region.

We took this opportunity to meet Kalle Pykälä, Chairman and Co-Founder of Ilmatar.
What drove you to found Ilmatar seven years ago?

Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, I do have some entrepreneurial blood in my veins, but I actually didn’t realize how much until 2011 when I founded Ilmatar. I began my career in 2000 in the venture capital unit of ABB and soon realized that I didn’t enjoy working in a huge international company. I then spent five years in a small Finnish-based venture capital company before setting up my own venture fund in 2005. In 2010, Mikko Toivanen (also Co- Founder of Ilmatar) approached me about investing in the Finnish wind market. I had no experience in the energy sector but my financial background and Mikko Toivanen’s solid history in the electricity transmission and distribution fields were the perfect combination.

According to you, what makes a good leader?

Being a good leader is about giving responsibility to others and believing in your team. I was the CEO of Ilmatar from day 1 until 2016, when I stepped down to become Chairman and appointed a new in-house CEO. It proved that my “baby” had grown up and could be run by someone else. I also believe that a good leader needs to be an expert in some areas and to know the other aspects of the business to some degree. This is why I try to keep an expert understanding of the financing and growth issues, whilst keeping a good level of knowledge in other areas, such as business development, engineering, services and operational issues. I believe that finance is a crucial part of driving the development of the wind power industry.

How do you see your collaboration with Omnes?

This joint-venture represents a major step in our strategy. Our joint project to construct and operate up to 1,000 MW of wind power positions us as one of the leading players in the European and Finnish subsidy-free wind industries. We met Omnes in 2017 while looking for partners to develop subsidy-free growth, and we immediately appreciated their entrepreneurial spirit, their approach to business partners and their open mindset. We share the same values and we feel that we have enough independence to successfully execute our strategy.

ilmatar
“You are not born an entrepreneur – you become one!"
BARBARO
XAVIER
CEO
of Neoen
> Read more
Neoen
PROJECTPROFILEPATH
Project

A pioneer spirit

Less than a year after Neoen was set up, Xavier opened up the company to outside investors. He knew that to have staying power, a firm needs to quickly reach critical mass, build professionalism and take emerging international opportunities.

“We chose partners – Louis Dreyfus (now Impala) and Omnes Capital – who shared our vision and mindset. Like us, they are pioneers, and we are so pleased to share this adventure with them.”

PROFILE
Xavier
BARBARO
CEO
of Neoen
“You are not born an entrepreneur – you become one”, says Xavier Barbaro when asked about the success story that is Neoen, which has grown to become France’s third-largest producer of green energy behind EDF and GDF Suez. Admittedly, when he started out, Xavier did have a few important qualities, not least being a graduate of École Polytechnique and École des Ponts et Chaussées, two prestigious French schools. But there was no hint of his future career as an entrepreneur. He got the bug from Jacques Veyrat, then boss of LDCom. “I was deeply marked by my time at LDCom during the dot-com boom. I saw the beating heart of a business and encountered stories of passion, struggle and survival.”
After a spell in the USA, during which he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, Xavier Barbaro joined Louis Dreyfus Commodities and led a number of projects in Asia, particularly in the biofuel sector. In 2007, he went back to Jacques Veyrat, who was by then in charge of the Louis Dreyfus Group, and told him that he wanted to work in the energy sector and to take on an entrepreneurial project. With Veyrat’s backing, he got involved in renewable energy with the creation of Neoen. It was a daring undertaking in a sector that then included about 300 firms in France. Xavier put his faith in a pioneering spirit, support from top-tier shareholders and a rigorous approach.
Success came quickly. “We now manage projects that are 600 times larger than the ones we started out with in 2008. The launch of Europe’s biggest solar park shows how far we have come in a few years.” Although he is keeping both feet firmly in France, Xavier is also looking abroad, with numerous projects under development in places as far afield as Australia, Egypt, Mexico and El Salvador. “As the costs of producing solar power tumble, we are taking everyone by surprise. This is just beginning.”
CAREER PATH

Timeline

2001: Started out at LDCom, now Neuf Cegetel
2008: Formation of Neoen, initially as part of Direct Energie. Neoen became fully independent in 2011.
2014: Moved up the next level by launching Europe’s largest photovoltaic park in Cestas near Bordeaux and winning two major tenders in El Salvador and Australia. Also the year when Neoen became the third-largest producer of renewable energy in France.

neoen
Portfolio
Better Energy, a pioneer in Northern Europe
View project
Joint venture with a pioneer of Finnish wind unsubsidized market
View project
Italian independent power producer
View project
Leading independent power producer in the hydro sector in France
View project
Joint Venture with one of the first independent renewable energy developers in Germany
View project
All investments - Renewable Energy
International leading Independent power producer
View project
Italian renewable multi-energy independent power producer
View project
Leading green energy producer
View project
All exits - Renewable Energy
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Press release
11 June 2020
Omnes brings on board an Analyst, an Associate, a Principal, an Asset Management Director and a Financial Controller; Omnes also has promoted an Associate and two Principals.
Omnes brings on board an Analyst, an Associate, a Principal, an Asset Management Director and a Financial Controller; Omnes also has promoted an Associate and two Principals.
Logo reveal video
Publication
Scope, the Omnes Review, July 2020
https://scope.omnescapital.com
Press release
04 June 2020
Capenergie 4 fund signs two new investments in Europe
Capenergie 4 fund signs two new investments in Europe
Le Cercle Omnes des Entrepreneurs - January 31, 2018
Press release
23 January 2020
Omnes acquires a minority stake in Better Energy, leading Danish solar energy provider and a renewable energy pioneer in Northern Europe, and announces the first closing of its Capenergie 4 fund, at €380 million.
Omnes acquires a minority stake in Better Energy, leading Danish solar energy provider and a renewable energy pioneer in Northern Europe, and announces the first closing of its Capenergie 4 fund, at €380 million.
Press release
25 November 2019
Omnes welcomes on board two new Analysts
Omnes welcomes on board two new Analysts
Publication
Scope, the Omnes review, December 2019
https://scope.omnescapital.com/36/