Energy

Impax takes resource optimisation investment strategy to US west coast

Published

11 years ago

April 15, 2014

Blue & Green Tomorrow

Impax Asset Management, a specialist in resource optimisation and environmental investment, has announced its intention to expand its business to the US west coast, with the opening of a new office in Portland, Oregon.

The firm currently has offices in London, New York and Hong Kong, as well as representation in Washington DC.

David Richardson, Impax’s managing director, said that the expansion to Portland was testament to the demand for its resource optimisation investment strategy. It invests solely in companies that are working to provide cleaner energy, more efficient products and services and help tackle the scarcity of natural resources.

Richardson added that the Portland office will “further strengthen our service to institutional and high net-worth investors”.

The news comes as Impax completed the acquisition of the planned Kuolavaara-Keulakkopää wind farm in northern Finland. Developed jointly by two firms – Fortum and Metsähallitus – the project will consist of 17 turbines with an expected installed capacity of 51 megawatts (MW).

Meanwhile, Impax said it had also closed project financing for another Finnish wind farm – the nine-turbine, 27MW Joukhaisselkä project – with the Swedish bank Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB).

Daniel von Preyss, managing director in Impax’s private equity infrastructure team, said, “The project financing of Joukhaisselkä with SEB is a key step in realising our first wind project in Finland.

“The construction and financing preparations of the Joukhaisselkä park have proceeded well and we are pleased to acquire Kuolavaara-Keulakkopää; the second project in our Finnish portfolio. Finland is a key market for Impax and we target follow-on acquisitions as the market continues to grow.”

The €330m (£272m) Impax New Energy Investors II fund takes over ownership of the project, which now has 65% of its assets invested in onshore wind projects.

Impax is among the leaders in the listed equity market. Its flagship fund, Impax Environmental Markets, returned 32.2% for the last calendar year, compared to its benchmark, the MSCI All Countries World Index, which returned 20.5%.

Chief executive Ian Simm said in January, “The drivers of our markets continue to strengthen, with significant news in science, policy and technology fuelling investor interest.”

Meanwhile, along with its expansion to Portland, the firm has also appointed Molly Ono, a former director at Invesco with 13 years’ experience in asset management, as director for business development and client service.

Photo: Elmar Beckmann via freeimages