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RENERGEN Limited, a company in the fast-developing alternative energy industry, today listed on the JSE’s AltX board. RENERGEN is the first Special Purpose Acquisition Vehicle (SPAC) from South Africa to list on the exchange. The JSE established the SPAC company structure to make it possible for companies to list for the purpose of capital raising to enable the acquisition of viable assets.
RENERGEN raised around R74 million in primary capital prior to listing. The company plans to invest in alternative and renewable energy projects of up to R500 million or more such as natural gas and hydro-electricity using debt and top-up equity from shareholders as required to deliver competitive returns on capital employed.
Donna Oosthuyse, head of JSE Capital Markets comments: “Energy security is a key driver of economic development on the African continent and the alternative energy sector will have a valuable role to play in achieving this. Listing as a SPAC will enable RENERGEN to raise capital with which to acquire necessary assets, while complying with the JSE’s listing requirements which protect investors. This provides shareholders with the liquidity and transparency associated with investing in a listed entity. The SPAC structure holds great promise for the renewable energy sector as well as for other types of infrastructure development and we are hopeful that we will see this innovative structure used more often for this purpose.”
RENERGEN’s target projects will either be recently revenue generating or close to doing so in order to ensure shareholders receive optimal benefit for the investment risk. These could include opportunities in outdated infrastructure with a view to modernisation, thereby improving the overall carbon footprint and profitability of its operations.
Stefano Marani, CEO of RENERGEN says “We believe that the world is on the verge of unprecedented growth in the production and use of alternative energy sources. By increasing access to reliable, clean energy we can accelerate economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa, where potential energy resources are more than sufficient to meet the region’s overall needs. RENERGEN aims to address the shortage of alternative energy required to deliver this growth.”
