FFWD.L Regulatory News (FFWD)

27 Nov 2006 07:00

London Asia Chinese Private Equity27 November 2006 London Asia Chinese Private Equity Fund Limited ("LACPEF" or "the Fund") Investment in Wind Energy Investment Company LACPEF, the China focused investment fund, announces that it is investing £3.0million for a 12% stake in Asia Wind Group Ltd ("Asia Wind" or "the Company").Asia Wind is a Guernsey incorporated investment company which intends to build asignificant portfolio of wind energy related businesses, capitalising on therapidly expanding wind energy sector in Asia and availability of leading edgeWestern technologies. Asia Wind will acquire minority stakes in technology companies, projectdevelopers and operators of wind farms in Asia. Additionally, Asia Wind willinvest into Western technology companies that seek both funding for expansioninto Asia and local partnerships. The Company has already created a substantial pipeline of investments forconsideration through a number of alliances with Asian advisers, energycompanies and universities, which includes wind farms in various provincesacross China as well as wind farm project developers and manufacturers of windturbines and components. Following this investment London Asia Capital plc ("LAC") has agreed to transferall of its wind projects and opportunities, built up over several years, to AsiaWind. Christoph Loslein, who to date has acted as a consultant to LAC's energyand environment interests and who is a director of LAC subsidiary company CleanTechnology plc, has become Chief Executive of Asia Wind. Simon Littlewood andVictor Ng, both Executive Directors of the Fund and of LAC, have joined theBoard of Asia Wind as non-executive directors. Companies associated with themwere involved in the initial founding and funding of Asia Wind and remainshareholders. The main drivers for growth in the sector are: • rapidly rising energy demands in China and India (caused by high, sustained GDP growth); • high cost of fossil fuels; • increasing environmental concerns; and • wind energy is currently the most economically viable source of renewable energy. Christoph Loslein, Chief Executive of Asia Wind, said: "This investment allowsus to accelerate the due diligence process we are currently carrying out on alarge number of potential deals. Other than hydro, wind energy is the mosteconomical way to produce energy from renewables, and is almost on a par withconventional energy sources in terms of cost. This means it is likely to be thefastest growing of all the renewable energy alternatives currently being lookedat as replacements for fossil fuels." Simon Littlewood, Executive Director of LACPEF, commented: "China's low costmanufacturing base and large local market make it the obvious place for thedevelopment of a significant wind industry. Our investment in Asia Windcomplements our other investments in the renewable sector, particularly therecent investment in China CDM Exchange as many of the projects are likely toqualify for carbon credits." For further information please visit www.londonasiafunds.com or contact: John West/Matt Ridsdale Simon Littlewood Hugh FieldTavistock Communications London Asia Capital Collins Stewart LimitedTel: 020 7920 3150 Tel: 020 7355 7928 Tel: 020 7523 8000 Market Drivers Through its recently implemented Renewable Energy Law, China requires itselectricity utilities to increase the share of their energy portfolio fromrenewable resources more than five fold by 2010 (excluding large hydro powerstations). Each year, China requires additional electricity capacity almost equivalent tothe entire production of the UK. Currently, less than 1% of total energyproduced is derived from renewable energy sources (excluding large hydro power).In 2005 the Chinese Government increased its target for wind energy to 30GW bythe year 2020, which would make it by far the largest wind market on the planet,and is roughly equal to US$30 billion of expenditure. In 2005 China had aninstalled base of only 1.2GW, up 59% from the previous year. China stipulates that 70% of any wind project in China must be local value,which Asia Wind believes will fuel the development of the local Chinese windturbine industry. The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) estimates that the totalpotential for wind energy in China and India is 250GW and 60GW respectively. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange