Equity arm handles green firm's investment venture
Dec 8 2010 by Peter McCusker, The Journal
A LAW firm's private equity group has advised on a £1m investment into SenseLogix led by international venture capital firm, Beringea and regional equity company, Northstar Ventures.
SenseLogix is an award-winning organisation that provides retrofit energy reduction solutions for the workplace and education environments.
The solution, EnergyLogix, retrofits into the building’s existing electrical infrastructure to manage electrical items, including IT and appliances, in order to eliminate electrical waste.
The County Durham and North Wales-based energy solutions company secured the investment with additional support from the Welsh Assembly.
The investment is a mixture of private and public funding and was completed with the aim of accelerating the growth of SenseLogix and the creation of new technology. In a boost for the North East economy and manufacturing industry, SenseLogix has engaged with Connor Solutions – an electronic services provider based in Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear.
Connor Solutions will manufacture the components for a range of intelligent products that will monitor and save electrical waste. The investment will see SenseLogix further expand its operations with new premises in Newton Aycliffe, with the company planning to create more than 12 new jobs over the next 12 months.
Jonathan Like, chief executive officer of Senselogix, said: “It is exciting times at the company following our successful launch at SustainabilityLive earlier this year, our recent award win, and our securing a product partnership with Marshall Tufflex for a range of pre-wired SenseLogix-powered cable management solutions.
“What is extremely encouraging is that the investment has been completed in difficult economic market conditions, which is a testament to our technology and business model. We have seen strong, early-stage market traction from both end users and service partners, and we are confident our technology will provide good energy savings to end users and assist our service partners in providing enhanced, low carbon energy services to their clients.”
Paul Wigham, a solicitor in Watson Burton’s private equity group, advised Beringea and Northstar Ventures on the terms of investment into SenseLogix. The transaction required a strong skill set of venture capital and corporate tax advice.
Duncan Reid, head of the firm’s Private Equity group, said: “The successful completion of this investment demonstrates the national reach of Watson Burton’s private equity practice. Our strong expertise in the venture capital marketplace alongside our knowledge of dealing with technology based businesses ensured a commercially pragmatic outcome for all concerned.”
The investment round will see the appointment of Stuart Veale, managing partner of Beringea, as a non-executive board member. Veale said: “SenseLogix’s pioneering retrofit technology reduces energy use from ICT and appliances in new and existing buildings. This is an important focus for organisations needing to lower carbon emissions. We were delighted to work with Watson Burton in bringing this investment to a successful conclusion.”
