30th Jan 2006 07:01
Sigma Technology Group PLC30 January 2006 Immediate Release 30 January 2006 SIGMA TECHNOLOGY GROUP PLC ("Sigma" or the "Company") Launch of £6 million Sigma Sustainable Energies Fund Sigma today announces the establishment of a new ten-year fund for investment insustainable energy technologies, with a first closing at £6 million. SigmaTechnology Management Limited will act as fund manager and, in line with Sigma'sstrategy of growing funds under management; the fund will be Sigma's thirdactive fund mandate. The Sigma Sustainable Energies Fund (the "Fund") has beenraised to provide funding for companies developing sustainable energytechnologies and has attracted limited partners from both public and privatesectors. A key feature of the Fund is the participation of FTSE 100 utilitycompany Scottish & Southern Energy plc ("SSE") as a trade investor. SSE hascommitted up to £2.4 million to the Fund, alongside the European RegionalDevelopment Fund (£2.4 million), Scottish Enterprise Fife (£500,000) SigmaTechnology Investments Limited (£400,000) and a group of private investors(£300,000). The Fund is expected to stimulate growth in the fast-growing sustainable andrenewable energy sector and can invest up to £500,000 in companies based in theEast of Scotland. The Fund will consider energy-related projects in a wide rangeof fields, including wind, solar, hydroelectric, biomass (including biofuels),ocean, hydrogen and geothermal. The Fund will remain open to additional investors for one year and Sigma isactively seeking further limited partners. Commenting on today's announcement, Graham Barnet, Managing Director of Sigmasaid: "We are delighted to be able to announce this new fund, with support fromSSE, the UK's largest generator of renewable energy and we welcome the continuedsupport of the Scottish Executive and Scottish Enterprise Fife. Investment intechnology providing alternative sources of power generation is critical at thistime and we look forward to being part of this important sector." Ian Marchant, Chief Executive of SSE, said: "SSE is involved in a wide range of leading-edge projects with the objective ofmeeting demand for electricity while reducing emissions of carbon dioxide. Ihope that this new fund will give us opportunities to work with a variety ofcompanies to help projects which are technically and commercially viable tobecome successful. The fund will complement our other investments in low and zero carbon generationtechnologies and in demand-reduction technologies such as micro generation. I amoptimistic that it will identify a good number of projects with significantpotential which we should support." ENDS Notes to Editors About Sigma Technology Sigma Technology Group plc is a UK venture capital investment and corporateadvisory group with offices in Edinburgh and London. It specialises in twosectors; technology and property. Sigma was founded in 1997 by Graham Barnet and Neil Crabb. It manages thirdparty funds as well as investing as principal alongside third party investorsthrough its technology venture capital funds. The Sigma Technology Venture Fund(the "Venture Fund") and the Sigma Innovation Fund (East of Scotland) (the"Innovation Fund"). These have £23m of funds under management. Its property activities are through its subsidiary, Strategic InvestmentManagement Limited, which has raised funds of £76 m. Contact BuchananCommunicationsDiane Stewart/Isabel Podda/Amy Rajendran 020 7466 5000 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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