Attica Ventures invests in green energy

8 February 2010

Procedures which will allow Attica Ventures to make its first investment in a renewable energy source project were completed today. This investment relates to the development of a 14 MW wind farm in the Peloponnese region of Greece in collaboration with a specialist company which has already developed similar wind farms in the past. The total level of investment is expected to exceed € 20 million and financing will be jointly provided by Attica Ventures and Attica Bank.

It should be noted that the wind strength data for this project is exceptional. All the necessary licenses and permits have been obtained, including the installation permit, and construction work is expected to commence immediately. This wind farm is expected to be completed at the start of 2012.

Mr. Giannis Papadopoulos, Attica Ventures’ CEO stressed that "Since we started making investments, renewable energy sources have been an investment priority. Almost 4 years and lot of effort were needed to be able to complete our first investment. The project’s excellent features aside, an important factor which led us to choose it was the one-stop-shop licensing procedure; in the past licensing has been something which has put us off proceeding with similar investments".

Attica Ventures was established in 2003 by Attica Bank (the first Greek bank to set up a venture capital management company) and since 2004 it has been managing the Zaitech Fund, a € 40 million venture capital fund whose investors are Attica Bank and TANEO. Over the last year alone, Attica Ventures made 5 new investments worth € 17 million, participating in the development of investment plans worth a total of over € 120 million which are expected to create more than 1,000 new, full-time jobs and to develop significantly over the years to come.

Today it is considered to be one of the most successful venture capital management companies in Greece, having made 10 investments to date in Greek SMEs thereby supporting their growth and development and the creation of more than 1,000 new jobs. Four of those investments have already been admitted to trading on the Athens Exchange (mastihashop, Doppler, Performance Technologies and Foodlink). The last company to list on the exchange (Foodlink), one of the largest Greek companies in the third party logistics market, began trading on the exchange last August.

FROM THE ATTICA VENTURES PRESS OFFICE