6 Mar 2015 07:00
6 March 2015
GLI Finance Limited invests $1.25 million in Open Energy Group
GLI Finance Limited ("GLI"), a specialist provider of finance to small and medium-sized enterprises, announces that it has agreed to invest $1.25 million in Open Energy Group ("OEG"), a US marketplace for commercial solar investment, in return for a 21.6% equity stake in the business. GLI will also extend a $5 million revolving loan facility to underwrite solar project loans and Geoff Miller will be appointed to the Board of Open Energy Group.
Open Energy Group funds the growth of US solar power infrastructure by lending against high quality commercial solar power assets. OEG gives developers and operators of US commercial, industrial, and small utility-scale solar projects the opportunity to access non-recourse debt finance.
OEG underwrites and structures solar project loans through its proprietary technology process, centred on a strict risk methodology, providing investors with security and choice around their investment products.
The Open Energy online investment marketplace enables accredited and institutional investors to invest into high quality solar project debt.
Geoff Miller, Chief Executive of GLI, said: "Open Energy Group's innovative financing solutions and growing investor base make it an excellent fit within our portfolio of financing platforms for growing businesses. This platform further expands our geographical presence in the US and gives us a very exciting foothold in the growing US solar industry. Given the strong demand for such tailored financing solutions and investor appetite I am sure that Open Energy Group will be a valuable partner for GLI."
Graham Smith, Chief Executive and Founder of Open Energy Group, said: "We are delighted to be welcoming GLI Finance as a significant investor and partner in our business. Growth of the US solar industry is accelerating rapidly so partnering with GLI is a fantastic opportunity to exploit this expansion, by scaling the Open Energy solar finance platform. This represents an important strategic step for Open Energy Group and an early validation of the opportunity to transform solar finance using marketplace lending.
We believe that the experience and expertise of the GLI management team will be hugely valuable in working towards Open Energy Group's goal of becoming a go-to solar finance provider in the US. Our offering provides further SME diversification to GLI Finance's existing portfolio, and we look forward to implementing synergies on our platform, derived from across the portfolio."
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Notes to editors
GLI Finance Limited
GLI Finance (www.glifinance.com) is a specialist provider of finance to small and medium sized. GLI Finance both invests in loans to SMEs and originates finance for SMEs through a variety of finance platforms.
The platforms in which GLI Finance is invested vary by geography, industry, size of lending and by type of lending. They include Global trade Finance, UK and US SME Lending, Offshore Lending, UK invoice discounting, European invoice discounting, Global multi-asset crowd funding and UK property-backed lending.
Open Energy Group (www.openenergygroup.com) is a financing platform for US commercial and small utility-scale solar projects. OEG provides innovative financing solutions to support the growth of commercial and utility-scale solar infrastructure, using a marketplace to direct investment from institutional and accredited investors to high quality borrowers, based on a foundation of technology-driven underwriting processes.
Borrowers - Open Energy Group provides US solar developers and project operators with much needed loan finance backed by their solar project fundamentals, using innovative approaches to traditional project finance to find the best financing solution for the borrower. Loans are typically $500,000 - $5 million and the terms range from 7 to 15 years.
Investors - Investors earn attractive yields on a risk-return basis from OEG Green Notes that are backed by cashflows from high quality solar power generation assets with strong long term power contracts. Accredited and Institutional investors choose their investments from a marketplace, and investments start from $5,000.
For further information, please contact:
GLI Finance Limited
Geoffrey Miller
+1 203 916 0003
+44 7408 830719
Ed Gascoigne-Pees / Hazel Stevenson (Camarco)
+44 (0)203 757 4984 / 4989
Open Energy Group
Graham Smith
+1 917 410 7282 x10
Michael Blomquist
+1 917 410 7282 x 11