£1m investment into UK solar developer Lumicity

Ludgate Environmental Fund Limited RNS, 19 August 2011

Ludgate Environmental Fund Limited

£1.0 million investment into UK solar developer Lumicity

Ludgate Environmental Fund Limited ("LEF") is pleased to announce a further investment of £1.0 million into Lumicity, a UK-based developer, owner and operator of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects focused on the sub 50 kW rooftop market. This investment is part of a £2.0 million round, in cooperation with ESB Novusmodus, a cleantech and renewable energy fund. It is structured as a combination of preference shares and interest bearing loan notes.

The new capital will be used to fund the roll-out of Lumicity's established pipeline of solar projects.

The total LEF investment of £1.3 million comprises an initial convertible loan of £298,000 in September 2010 and £1.0 million invested in August 2011. This gives LEF ownership of 45.8 per cent of Lumicity, representing 2.2 per cent of assets under management.

Lumicity develops barn and car park rooftop solar projects in the UK. The company provides the necessary service, skills and network to exploit the rapidly expanding UK solar PV market. It has a project pipeline of over 200 sites, totalling more than 10MW, and agreements in place with a leading UK barn builder and UK solar installer.

Bill Weil, Chief Investment Officer of Ludgate Investments Limited, the Investment Adviser to LEF said:"Investment in renewable energy developers is a continuing focus for the Ludgate Environmental Fund. Lumicity's business model produces assets that are reliable and produce attractive long term revenue streams for investors. We are delighted to play a part in this market."

Tristan Fischer, Founder and CEO of Lumicity said:"We are delighted to have further backing from the Ludgate Environmental Fund and ESB Novusmodus. This funding will allow us to start construction on our first wave of projects and will enable us to expand our reach into other sectors that can benefit from solar PV."

LEF has the right to nominate a seat on the board of Lumicity. Bill Weil has been appointed with Nick Curtis as his alternate.

About Ludgate Environmental Fund

Ludgate Environmental Fund invests in a diverse portfolio of late stage companies in the European cleantech sector. Actively managing its holdings, the Fund invests growth capital with a focus on waste and recycling; renewables; energy efficiency and water.

Ludgate Environmental Fund was launched in August 2007 and has assets under management of circa £60.0 million. The Fund is a Jersey domiciled closed-ended investment company, quoted on AIM under the symbols LEF.L for the shares and LEFW.L for the warrants.

Further information can be found at www.ludgateenvironmental.com and www.lumicity.com

About Novusmodus

Novusmodus is an investment firm whose aim is to provide capital, support and knowledge to companies and projects in the renewable and cleantech sectors. It is based in London, Dublin and Munich, and has a European focus, but a global mandate.

It is the investment adviser to ESB Novusmodus, a €200 million fund established by ESB, the leading Irish utility. Through this unique relationship, Novusmodus has direct access to ESB's wealth of technical knowledge, engineering skills and commercial experience, the benefits of which we pass on to our investment partners.

Further information can be found at www.novusmodus.com

For further information:

Ludgate Environmental Fund: Chairman, John Shakeshaft, 01534 609 462   

Ludgate Investments Limited: Nick Curtis, 020 7621 5770

Lumicity: Tristan Fischer, 020 7558 8674

NOMAD - PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP: Melville Trimble, 020 7213 8898

Broker - Matrix Corporate Capital LLP: Paul Fincham, 020 3206 7175

Novusmodus: Tom Rayner, 020 7832 9400