About Polytech

Polytech, which Verdane acquired through a portfolio investment in three Danish wind energy component businesses in 2016, is a full service engineering and manufacturing business specialised in lightning protection systems and blade integrity solutions for wind turbines. Polytech helps wind turbine manufacturers and energy companies increase their Annual Energy Production (AEP) and to reduce their Cost of Energy (CoE). Verdane has closely tracked the wind components industry since 2007, as it aligns with our sector expertise in energy technology.

Investment rationale

Verdane has a long track record in energy technology, going back to advanced technology investments in Norway through our very first fund in 2003. When the Winds portfolio (Polytech, JSB and Jupiter Group) became available for investment, Verdane was able to provide the owners with lower transaction risk comparative to single exits thanks to our portfolio investment mandate, and invest in three successful businesses whose long-term growth was supported by the increasingly urgent need globally to find cost-effective and scalable ways to decarbonise the energy sector. All three businesses had proven profitable over business cycles (2007-2015), and we saw significant potential to deploy each company’s significant R&D capabilities to cement a position as global leader in their respective niches.

Value Creation Initiatives

Active Ownership

• Enhanced the Board and supported the recruitment of key CXO-level hires
• Introduced company to early adopter customer of strategic new product
• Helped optimise capital efficiency of growth through establishing innovative working capital financing solution

Investing for Growth

• Broadened product portfolio towards fast-growing and strategically attractive after-market
• Supported aggressive capex programme to enable new product development and product launches
• Establish Mexican factory to broaden global footprint

 

Strategic positioning

• Launched strategically important “leading edge protection” product
• Launched monitoring products for the blade
• Built after market product portfolio and organisation
• Add-on acquisition of GLPS, smaller competitor within Lightning Protection Services (LPS) products, to consolidate market share, accelerate broadening of customer base, establish category leadership within LPS and add additional competence to the organisation