U.K. private equity asset manager, Apis Partners LLP together with a group of investors, has awarded US$60 million in equity and debt to Greenlight Planet Inc., a U.S.-based company specializing in off-grid solar solutions for underserved populations.
Greenlight Planet, which claims to have been profitable in each of the last 10 financial quarters, said it will use the funds to expand its financing capabilities in Asia and Africa, and its solar energy product lines and global distribution network.
The company, whose product series includes lighting, home energy systems, phone chargers, radios, fans and televisions, reportedly sold around 600,000 solar home systems over the past three years, at a rate of over 1,000 systems per day. It is active in 62 countries with a network consisting of distributors, retailers, NGOs and micro-finance institutions.
“Using mobile money systems, customers pay for their solar energy products over time, for as little as 25 cents a day. After six to eight months, they own the solar product outright, making solar energy more affordable ” said the pay-as-you-go solar product distributer.
The investor group comprised existing shareholders, including Eight Roads Ventures and Bamboo Capital Partners; the company’s earliest institutional lenders, Deutsche Bank and Global Partnership; and new investors such as SunFunder, PG Impact Investments, responsAbility, and SIMA Funds. Law firm, Freshfields acted as legal adviser in the transaction.
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