Construction World April 2015

CONSTRUCTION WORLD

APRIL

2015

ENVIRONMENT

According to juwi South Africa MD,

Greg Austin, the new loan agree-

ments have been signed by more

than 40 financial institutions. The

agreements have a volume of around €300-

million and a four-year term. juwi can now

draw on extensive credit lines through to

December 2018 and can therefore continue

to act as a reliable partner in the energy

turnaround in Germany and abroad.

For juwi, the conclusion of this new stra-

tegic partnership is an important milestone

that will strengthen and enhance its core

business of project development, construc-

tion as well as operations and maintenance.

The German stock listed energy player

MVV Energie AG, with an annual revenue

of around four billion euro and 5 400 staff,

plans to further expand its commitment in

the renewable energy sector through this

new investment.

Adding muscle

The transaction between the two successful

companies marks a historic milestone in the

German energy industry and adds muscle to

juwi’s position in South Africa.

Commenting on the successful transac-

tion Austin says: “MVV Energie’s investment

into juwi AG will have a positive impact on

the bankability of juwi internationally as

a leading integrator for solar PV EPC and

project developer, and will enable juwi SA to

expand its operations as a result of increased

lines of guarantee for projects.”

Austin adds that from an operational

perspective juwi SA anticipates that MVV

Energie’s long energy industry experience

will be reflected in improved business syner-

gies, which will lead to increased efficiencies

across the juwi group and of course in South

Africa as well.

For the founders and acting chief

executives of the juwi group, Fred Jung

and Matthias Willenbacher, the transac-

tion represents a major building block for

sustainable growth in the juwi group.

For MVV Energie AG, the partnership with

juwi represents the systematic evolution of

its strategic orientation. “The ongoing trans-

formation of energy supply structures in

Germany centers on an efficient and environ-

mentally-friendly combination of renewable

and conventional energies as pillars in the

energy system of the future,” commented

Dr Georg Müller, chief executive of MVV,

adding that the strategic investment and

co-operation offered juwi, its project part-

international investment deal

POWERFUL

juwi, Germany’s leading renewable energy specialist headquartered

in Wörrstadt, has a new partner: in December 2014, Mannheim-

based energy company MVV Energie AG acquired a 50,1% majority

shareholding interest in juwi AG via a capital increase.

ners and other interested parties necessary

stability and complementary development

perspectives. Under the new corporate

structure, juwi will systematically continue

realising its well-filled project pipeline and

also moving forward with marketing its

projects to interested investors.

Synergy

The executive boards of both companies see

the new partnership as a historic milestone

in the energy industry: “We have succeeded

in bringing together the energy business

know-how of an established energy group

and the expertise of an experienced project

developer in the field of renewable energies.

This combination means we are prepared to

face the upcoming challenges of the energy

market and are well positioned to deal with

issues relating to all aspects of clean energy

generation including the engineering side of

EPC projects as well as the integration and

marketing of clean power.

“We are optimistic we will bring the

remaining aspects of our restructuring and

reorientation to a successful conclusion in

the comingmonths,” the two energy pioneers

said. Jung and Willenbacher have been

realigning and reorienting their company to

the constantly changing political framework

ever since the German market for large-scale

solar plants slumped in 2012.

Further afield

In other international markets, juwi remains

a highly sought-after project develop-

ment, EPC and O&M partner. The group will

continue to expand its project pipeline and

internationally utility scale solar shows the

strongest growth. “In a global context there

is enormous potential for the efficient use

of renewable energy, particularly wind and

solar energy. In light of our outstanding

accomplishments as a project development

and EPC partner on almost every continent

we want to harness these opportunities and

continuously expand our international busi-

ness,” commented Stephan Hansen, juwi

executive board member responsible for

international business.

South Africa MD, Greg Austin.

The founders and acting chief

executives of the juwi group, Matthias

Willenbacher (left) and Fred Jung.