“LeaseGreen has managed to unlock enormous potential for owners of large properties”
The energy service company LeaseGreen is expanding its ownership base. LeaseGreen’s existing owners have carried out a transaction whereby Hartwall Capital, the Hartwall family investment company, will become a shareholder in the company. As part of the transaction, Hartwall Capital will also invest 10 million euro in new capital into the company. LeaseGreen’s operational management and strategy will remain unchanged, and the executive management and other existing owners will stay on as significant shareholders.
“We will continue on our familiar, inspiring path, but with added reinforcements,” says LeaseGreen’s CEO Tomi Mäkipelto, who founded the company in 2013 together with CFO Juho Rönni. “LeaseGreen has a strong capital structure on which to base its growth and internationalisation.”
According to Mäkipelto, LeaseGreen’s strategy will continue to be focused on achieving success together with the company’s customers and personnel. The company’s growth prospects are strengthened even further now with a long-sighted Finnish investor among its owners.
“In recent months, we have conducted in-depth discussions on LeaseGreen’s business operations, growth strategy and operating environment with Hartwall Capital. With the support of Hartwall Capital, LeaseGreen can continue implementing its current strategy and remain an entrepreneur-driven business. We will complete even larger and more ambitious customer projects than before and have now reinforced LeaseGreen’s owner and capital structure in the same way as before: in a timely, front-loaded manner.”
LeaseGreen plans and executes modernisations of large-scale properties’ energy systems, applying an innovative service model that includes financing. Operating in Finland and Sweden, the company employs around sixty highly educated building technology experts. LeaseGreen’s revenue grew to 21 million euros in 2017. During the current financial year, the company expects to achieve revenues of 35–40 million euro.
Hartwall Capital is a Finnish, family owned investment company. The company’s roots lie in the beverage business Oy Hartwall Ab, which was established in 1836. The investment company’s CEO Eeva Ahdekivi explains that Hartwall Capital seeks sustainable value growth via active ownership:
“LeaseGreen has been one of Finland’s best-performing growth companies in recent years. It has unlocked potential for substantial returns for property owners, thanks to its service model that offers easy opportunities for implementing energy efficiency investments. The gains on these investments are high, without tying up capital from the property owners. This means that carrying out the projects is profitable and uncomplicated for LeaseGreen’s customers. The company’s crystal clear operating model, values and entrepreneurial spirit are a good match with Hartwall Capital’s strategy, and we want to be strongly involved in supporting LeaseGreen’s entrepreneurs and personnel in the company’s next development phase.”
The market potential for properties’ energy renovations is several billion euro per year just in Finland and Sweden. In addition to the strong financial incentives, efforts to reduce energy consumption of properties and cut CO2 emissions are underpinned by the global discourse on climate change and corporate responsibility. Eeva Ahdekivi from Hartwall Capital and Tomi Mäkipelto from LeaseGreen agree that there is only one possible development path in this respect:
“The pressure is growing for improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions. Corporations have great intentions for operating responsibly, but few possess the necessary competence for solving the related technical challenges and making use of existing potential.”
Additional information:
CEO
Eeva Ahdekivi
Hartwall Capital Oy Ab
050 523 5840
eeva.ahdekivi@hartwallcapital.fi
CEO
Tomi Mäkipelto
LeaseGreen Group Oy
050 370 4092
tomi.makipelto@leasegreen.fi
