Taaleri Oyj - Company Announcement

Taaleri has established an energy company and entered into cooperation agreements

Helsinki, 2016-09-07 08:00 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 

Finance house Taaleri Plc’s energy business segment has commenced operations.
Taaleri Energia Oy, which forms the segment, will develop, build, finance and
operate energy infrastructure assets. The company is targeting energy projects
domestically as well as internationally and, in pursuit of this aim, the first
cooperation agreements have been signed with Wärtsilä Corporation and ABB Oy
respectively. 

“At the moment, Taaleri is Finland’s second largest wind power producer.
Cooperation with internationally renowned market participants is related to
Taaleri’s most recent area of expansion in renewable energy - solar power. We
will pursue energy production platforms globally providing Taaleri’s
shareholders and clients with new investment opportunities at a time of
increasing demand,” explains Taaleri Plc’s CEO, Juhani Elomaa. 

Taaleri’s energy segment becomes operational

Dr. Kai Rintala from KPMG has been appointed to head Taaleri’s energy business.
Rintala will act as Taaleri Energia Oy’s Managing Director. Rintala has over
ten years’ of international experience in energy and infrastructure projects
and transactions. 

“In order to diversify risk, Taaleri Energia will make investments at different
stages of energy projects across a number of geographies. Taaleri Energia will
work in closely with our private equity funds business in order to provide our
clients with investment opportunities with a long-term, stable and predictable
return,” says Rintala. 

“We will focus on projects and assets of industrial scale, EUR 20–100 million
in size. Taaleri has studied solar opportunities also in Finland, but being
able to connect production solely at the point of consumption significantly
restricts project size.” 

In addition to Rintala, Mikko Harju from KPMG, as Commercial Director, and Sami
Kyntölä from Sivenius Suvanto & Co Ltd. attorneys, as Legal Director, and Petri
Isotalus from Finnfund, as Investment Director will join Taaleri Energia Oy.
Harju has over 15 years of international investment banking experience as well
as in-depth expertise in energy sector M&A. Kyntölä has extensive experience in
corporate and financing transactions related to electricity production and
distribution, including wind power and other forms of renewable energy.
Isotalus has over 10 years of experience in renewable energy investments across
emerging markets, including industrial-scale solar projects. 

Taaleri Plc’s existing renewable energy organisation will transfer into the new
company. Taamir Fareed will serve as Taaleri Energia’s Technical Director,
Erkki Kunnari as Operational Director, Olli Hagqvist as Production Manager, and
Pauli Maaninka as Development Manager. 

“Taaleri has accumulated considerable experience in renewable energy. We will
utilise our in-house expertise and the new appointments will strengthen the
team considerably. As the energy sector is going through a period of transition
in the pursuit of global climate goals, to which Finland is committed to as
well, a sustained investment into renewable energy is a must,” says CEO Juhani
Elomaa. 

Taaleri’s expansion in the energy sector is expected to increase the assets
under management by Taaleri’s private equity funds, in addition to the existing
funds, by approximately EUR 800 million in the next three years. The capital
will be committed primarily to new investments made via the funds. Domestic and
international acquisitions are also an option. 

Taaleri Plc owns 79% of Taaleri Energia Oy’s shares and the executive
management of the subsidiary a total of 21% of the shares. Taaleri’s energy
business will be reported as an independent segment alongside asset management
and financing businesses as of 1 July 2016. 

Taaleri Energia signs independent cooperation agreements with Wärtsilä and ABB

Taaleri Energia’s first cooperation agreements have been signed with Wärtsilä
plc and ABB Oy respectively. This is related to Taaleri’s energy business
becoming increasingly international and expanding into new forms of energy
production. 

“It is important that we commence effectively with reputable companies that
have the appropriate resources for major projects,” says Taaleri’s CEO Juhani
Elomaa. 

Wärtsilä will cooperate with Taaleri Energia in the development and
construction of power plants. The cooperation is closely related to Wärtsilä’s
growth in solar and hybrid production. Wärtsilä has delivered power plants in
more than 170 countries. 

”Wärtsilä supplies solar and hybrid power plants in excess of 10 megawatts. Our
hybrid solutions bring reliability to solar energy production. Fluctuations in
production can be balanced with gas and biofuel engines, for example. Wärtsilä
supplies the plants on a turn-key basis,” says Stefan Nygård, Project
Development Director, of Wärtsilä Corporation. 

ABB is one of the world's leading component and sub-system suppliers for solar
plants. ABB's offering covers all the components required in solar energy
systems, excluding solar panels and cabling. Over four gigawatts of ABB's PVS
range of photovoltaic inverters, developed in Finland, have been delivered
globally. The expanding cooperation with ABB will focus on components and
optimised sub-systems. In addition, ABB and Taaleri will utilise each others’
partner networks in order to identify new investment opportunities. 

”Solar energy is a rapidly growing business for ABB. We see the collaboration
with Taaleri Energia as an opportunity to solve our customers’ financing needs.
Taaleri’s experience and expertise in renewable energy offers an excellent
basis for the cooperation,” says Senior Vice President, Power Conversion, Timo
Toissalo of ABB. 

Taaleri Plc
Communications

Further information:

Kai Rintala, Managing Director, Taaleri Energia Oy, tel. +358 40 162 5711
Juhani Elomaa, CEO, Taaleri Plc, tel. +358 40 778 9020

Taaleri in brief

Taaleri is a financial house, whose parent company Taaleri Plc is listed on the
stock exchange list maintained by Nasdaq Helsinki. The Taaleri Group consists
of three business areas: Asset Management, Financing and Energy. Taaleri's
services are directed at institutional investors, companies and private
individuals. The Group's subsidiaries engaging in business are: Taaleri Wealth
Management and its subsidiaries, Taaleri Private Equity Funds Ltd Group,
Taaleri Investments Ltd Group, Taaleri Energia Oy and Garantia Insurance
Company Ltd. In addition, Taaleri has associated companies Fellow Finance Plc,
which offers peer loan services, and Inderes Oy, which produces analyses and
media contents for investors. 

At the end of June 2016, Taaleri had EUR 4,2 billion of administered funds and
3,600 asset management customers. Taaleri Plc has approximately 2,600
shareholders. The operations of Taaleri are monitored by the Finnish Financial
Supervisory Authority. 

 More information about our company and services:

www.taaleri.com
www.fellowfinance.fi
www.garantia.fi

Taaleri on Twitter

 www.wartsila.com

 www.abb.com