Climate Change Capital Private Equity, the €200 million fund dedicated to investments in clean technology companies, has led a convertible bond issue in Metallkraft, the Norwegian company that developed a patented process to recycle spent slurry used in cutting solar silicon wafers.
CPE subscribed for NOK85 million (€10.3 million) of the NOK140 million (€17.0 million) total convertible bond issue alongside existing shareholders and other investors. The convertible bonds have a 12% coupon per annum and a three-year term.
Metallkraft will use the proceeds from the convertible bond issue to support its new plant in Singapore, which will service the 740MW wafer plant being commissioned by REC.
Simon Drury, a CPE partner said, “In addition to the environmental benefits of its solution, Metallkraft is able to dramatically reduce the slurry costs, providing solar wafer manufacturers with a decisive competitive edge in a fast moving solar industry continuously striving to reduce the overall cost of solar energy.”
Metallkraft’s CEO, Gunnar Kulia said, “The management team of Metallkraft warmly welcome CPE as a key stakeholder in our company. CPE’s due diligence process led to a positive result and our discussions during the process were detailed, professional and very constructive. I am convinced that CPE’s active participation on Metallkraft’s Board will contribute significantly to our development.