Ardian acquires energy company Nevel

French private investment company Ardian acquires Nevel, a company in district heating and industrial energy solutions. The Finnish Vapo-group sells 100% of its subsidiary in Nevel, who owns and operates over 130 heating and power plants and over 40 district heating networks in Finland, Sweden and Estonia. Nevel’s Net Sales in 2019 was 101 million euro. The deal was signed on 31 October and the transaction requires still the competition authority’s clearance.

“Nevel is a perfect fit to our strategy for sustainable energy in the Nordics. Nevel’s business is based on developing energy solutions for municipalities, buildings and industry. Our goals are aligned with Nevel and we believe our investment further accelerates Nevel’s business development”, says Simo Santavirta, Senior Managing Director of Ardian Infrastructure.

Ardian sees good opportunities to develop and expand Nevel’s business in Finland, Sweden and Estonia, aiming at becoming the go-to platform for industrial and commercial companies willing to outsource their energy capex and services.

“We intend to grow the company, invest and employ more people. We will invest more to enhance the efficiency and environmental friendliness of the CHPs, boilers and district heating networks of Nevel. The planning commences once the deal is closed. The magnitude of the investment program is over ten million euros. We also intend to recruit many experts to Nevel in Finland and Sweden”, says Eero Auranne, chairman of Enordic, Ardian’s sustainable energy investment platform in the Nordic countries.

The transaction requires the clearance of the Finnish competition authority. Ardian does not have a competing or overlapping businesses with Nevel in Finland or in the Nordic countries.

Committed long term owner

Ardian’s first investment in Finland was made in March 2020 when Ardian acquired Lakiakangas wind park in Isojoki, Ostrobothnia. The wind park comprises of 14 wind turbines with a capacity of 57 MW.

In Sweden Ardian has a large 280 MW wind park under construction and a 75 MW park in operation. In Norway, Ardian is shareholder of a 50 MW wind park in operation in the Finnmark region.

“Nevel perfectly complements our current portfolio of Nordic investments. Nordic countries are a strategic region for Ardian where we further invest in essential infrastructures in energy, transportation and telecommunication across all Nordic countries”, says Daniel Von der Schulenburg, Ardian Infrastructure Head of Northern Europe.

”Investment in Nevel is a significant milestone in the entire strategy of Ardian, targeting to significant reduction in CO2 emissions world wide”, says Amir Sharifi, Energy Transition lead for Ardian Infrastructure.

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$100bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base.

Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.

Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 700 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of around 1,000 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

Enordic is Nordic’s first sustainable energy platform invests in opportunities in wind, biomass, hydro and district heating, in addition to traditional energy assets that can be transformed or managed in a sustainable way.

Nevel is an advanced infrastructure company, committed to taking its customer’s utility infrastructure to the next level. The company produces heat and electricity in more than 130 boiler houses and combined heat and power plants and manages over 40 district heating networks with the most sophisticated digital platform in the industry. Nevel employs 130 experts in Finland, Sweden and Estonia. The company’s turnover is EUR 100 million.

Contact details:

Eero Auranne, Chairman, Enordic, +358 44 4252200
Simo Santavirta, Senior Managing Director of Ardian Infrastructure, + 44 7741 901 340
Tommi Manninen, Kreab, +358 400 437 515 (media inquiries)