Luxembourg, March 2021

Luxembourg – Save the Planet AG, a patent development company focused on promoting renewable energy sources, has appointed Xeon International as its Licensing Fund Manager. The move is part of Save the Planet’s ongoing efforts to commercialize its patented technology and bring its innovative renewable energy solutions to a wider audience.

As Licensing Fund Manager, Xeon International will be responsible for managing and administering the licensing of Save the Planet’s patented technology to third-party licensees. This will include identifying potential licensees, negotiating licensing agreements, and ensuring that licensees comply with the terms of their agreements.

“We’re excited to be working with Xeon International as our Licensing Fund Manager,” said Mr. Detlef Dhomen, CEO of Save the Planet AG. “Their expertise in licensing and commercialization will be invaluable as we look to bring our patented technology to market and make a positive impact on the environment.”

“We’re honored to have been chosen as Save the Planet’s Licensing Fund Manager,” said Yves Duponselle, CEO of Xeon International. “We look forward to working with Save the Planet to identify and secure licensing agreements with partners who share our commitment to promoting renewable energy sources.”

Save the Planet AG has developed a range of innovative renewable energy solutions, including a kinetic power plant that has already been inspected by TUV Nord (Thailand) Ltd. The company recently moved its research and development operations from Germany to Thailand and is open to collaborating with potential partners.

For more information about Save the Planet AG and its renewable energy solutions, please contact Mr. Christian Tittz.  For inquiries about licensing Save the Planet’s patented technology, please contact Xeon International at info@xeon-international.com

TH&C-CAP is the latest new Alternative Investment LP from Xeon International Luxembourg.

Luxembourg. Xeon international Investment Partners announced the launch of a new Tea Fund called TH&C-CAP. The fund is a logical extension of Xeon International’s commitment towards sustainable Impact investment, says Giancarlo d’Elia, CEO of Xeon International Investment Partners.

TH&C-CAP has an investment policy focused on the growing, manufacturing, distribution and marketing of fresh tea grown in Europe as well as for specific Herbs and Coffees.

Florrisant Ltd. is the appointed Investment Advisor for T-CAP to structure and develop a comprehensive Tea management& Licensing system, growing Tea in any city or place. “The strategy will contribute to fresh tea everywhere on the Globe.” says Mr. A, Brouwers President and CEO of Florrisant.

“For the financing of the project, TH&C-CAP intends to appoint Xeon International Corporate Finance as its Financial Advisor. Indeed, provided that TH&C-CAP has secured technology, feedstock and off-take agreements, Xeon International Corporate Finance, will assist to raise the debt and equity investment targets.

Xeon International aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within four functional areas: Corporate Finance – Private Equity – Advisory and Personal Advisory services.

Xeon International Capital Partners, the General Partner of Xeon Fund SIF SICAV S.C.A. announced today the appointment of Mr. Patrick Rutten as a new Member of the Board of Directors.

“As Xeon International Capital Partners is reaching substantial growth Momentum in the market it was a must to put the Business Development and Investment in the hands of a seasoned and experienced Board Member”, comments Yves Duponselle, Chairman at Xeon International Capital Partners.
“With Patrick “on Board”, we can tap into his more than 30 years of working experience in the complex field of monitoring and analyzing information and performances. He is a Certified European Financial Analyst with an excellent understanding of Investment Management. He has a vast pool of relationships linked to a proven track record and has the required experience to lead the path to new business and larger brand penetration among investors and entrepreneurs. He fits well our global investment business model, based on strategic alliances with proven Investment Advisors.” according Yves.

“When the business is expanding so aggressively as we are experiencing for the moment, it is important that we increase the accountability for the Key functions within the Board.” says Giancarlo d’Elia, CEO and Vice-Chairman of Xeon International Capital Partners.

“Because the strategy of Xeon fund focuses exclusively on the Mid and Long term on Impact investments for entrepreneurs who are striving for a positive contribution on our World and Society, I felt that my heart and mind was in complete balance by taking this new opportunity, says Patrick Rutten. “I Enjoy realizing a positive impact on society with new technologies and innovations. We have absolute exciting times ahead of us because besides the great team and value proposition, we are operating from Luxembourg which is one of the Leading Fund management platforms in the World.”

Patrick has spent a great part of his professional life working in the banking industry. Over the years, he developed in-depth skills in Financial Analysis. He studied actuarial science, mathematics, investment management and change management, and worked for several Dutch financial institutions (e.g. NN Group, Rabobank, Van Lanschot Kempen, InsingerGilissen) in the role of actuarial analyst, investment analyst, strategist, and equity portfolio manager.

“Apart from his large experience, Patrick is all but a traditional thinker. He is seeking for continuous innovation to enhance and simplify investor experiences and that is what has caught our attention,” commented Yves, “it is our strategy at Xeon International, as opposed to the existing Banking Industry, to strive for complete personalization where investor strategies are empowered and accelerated by working with Xeon International.

Xeon International aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within three functional areas: Project Financing and M&A – Fund Management – Growth Management.

Xeon International is the initiator of Xeon Fund. Xeon Fund SIF SICAV SCA was founded back in 2011 and is a Private Equity umbrella fund with 3 Sub-funds. The fund has been awarded for its Corporate Social and environmental investment strategy. The fund concentrates on Alternative Energies, Water Production and Real Estate. It operates from Luxembourg and is authorized by the Luxembourg regulator CSSF with Visa 2015/101265-7225-0-PC.

Xeon International Capital Partners appoints Crestbridge Management as its new and independent risk manager of Xeon fund.

Crestbridge has a special focus on alternative investments and disposes of the skills to understand the thematic linked to this asset class.
In Luxembourg, Crestbridge S.A. and Crestbridge Management Company S.A. (together “Crestbridge Luxembourg”), fully owned subsidiaries of the Jersey parent provide for corporate secretarial, corporate governance and administration services to regulated as well as non-regulated fund structures and 3rd party management company services to regulated funds.

Offices are located in the centre of Luxembourg with qualified staff with experience in company administration, spanning from non regulated vehicles such as Soparfi to regulated vehicles, such as SIFs, Part II funds, SICARs and UCITS funds.
They specialise in providing tailored solutions to clients by aligning their business to their clients and developing long-term partnerships.

Crestbridge Management Company S.A. manages approximately €5.2bn for its clients, of which €3 .1bn in real estate and infrastructure (debt, direct, FoF), €800m in private equity, €500m in fixed income, other debt instruments and financial assets and €800m UCITS (plain vanilla and alternative).

Ludivine Nicolai, Associate Director, Risk Management will be supervising the risk management. Ludivine has been active in the financial sector in Luxembourg since 2004, in particular in the Risk Management area. She is also experienced in the IT area.

Xeon Fund SIF SICAV SCA was founded back in 2011 and is a Private Equity umbrella fund with 3 Sub-funds. The fund has been awarded for its Corporate Social and environmental investment strategy.The fund concentrates on Alternative Energies, Water Production and Real Estate. It operates from Luxembourg and is authorised by the Luxembourg regulator CSSF with Visa 2015/101265-7225-0-PC.

Xeon International is the initiator of Xeon Fund and aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within four functional areas: Corporate Finance – Private Equity – Advisory and Family Office services.

Dr. Kuhn and Mr. Cornehl, Directors at ENERCAP answer to some frequently asked questions about the Unique Selling Points (USP‘s) of the ENERCAP project.

Question: What makes ENERCAP unique?
Dr.Kuhn: The Business Model of ENERCAP combines two different branches industries in an ideal complementary manner:
Production of Bioethanol as Biofuel & Thermal Use of Fractionated Waste (RDF – Refuse Derived Fuels)
The entire production operates energetically completely independent. The RDF Power Plant delivers 100% of the required amount of heat and electricity. The surplus Electricity Production will be delivered and sold into the public power grid. There is a huge shortage of electricity in the Philippines outside the metropoles.

Question: Many investors seems to have been disappointed by Waste to Energy investments ending up with poor efficiency.
Mr. Cornehl: The combined heat and power (CHP) increases the efficiency of power plants significantly by the use of the whole heat energy. ENERCAP’s efficiency will be about 75 – 80% (for comparison: Modern power plants in GER reach c. 40%!), and makes it to one of the most effective and most sustainable power plants worldwide.

Question: How would that work?
Dr.Kuhn: The technology used in the RDF Power Plant allows the variable use of the heat energy to generate electricity. When there is reduced demand for heat in the bioethanol production process, it increases the electricity production (e.g. during maintenance work in the Bioethanol-Plant).

Question:What else did you consider?
Dr.Kuhn: 3 equal lines of the RDF Power Plant are adapted to the energy requirement of the 3-line Bioethanol Plant. This results in a high level of redundancy, flexibility and availability of the systems. This is a great risk mitigation factor as opposed to traditional single line manufacturing concepts.

Question: Does that mean that you are a co-generation plant?
Mr. Cornehl: Absolutely not. We are a kind of “super” co-generation plant.Unlike to “normal” co-generation plants for the production of bioethanol ENERCAP does not use the residues of energy crops for the generation of heat and electricity (→ e.g. biogas, combustion of Sugarcane-Bagasse). The use of RDF as an energy source in the power plant allows the drying of the fermentation residues to a valuable, high-protein feedstuff for farm animals (about 240,000 t / a DDCS).
Therefore ENERCAP will receive a credit for 240,000 t / a DDCS (Dried Distiller’s Cassava with Solubles) in form of soybean-equivalents when assessing the CO2-balance of bioethanol due to the supplementation of other protein feedstuffs in farm animal nutrition.

Question: How environmental friendly is ENERCAP
Dr.Kuhn: The use of alternative fuels (RDF) in the project of ENERCAP is extremely environment friendly:
– The thermal use of RDF reduces the huge amounts of waste in landfills (Manila → 8,000 t / day)
– The equipment of the RDF Power Plant achieves 50% reduced emissions than the strongest environmental legislation worldwide (Federal Pollution Control Act in GER)

Question: Are you reducing the overall Carbon Footprint?
Mr. Cornehl: The use of RDF in energy production has an extremely positive impact on the CO2-balance and the sustainability of the therewith produced bioethanol. The CO2-balance is calculative comparable to Biomass Power Plants.
Example: The CO2-Footprint of plastic packaging are dedicated to the User or Manufacturer of plastic packaging, and not to the Thermal Utilization in a Power Plant.

Question: Why do you use the Cassava?
Dr.Kuhn: The use of Cassava (also Manioc or Tapioca) is extremely economical due to its high starch content, environmentally friendly and sustainable.
Cassava can be cultivated very easily and without much effort. Also we do not want to be recognized as a “Food for Fuel”player. We explicitly did not want to use Corn based, neither sugar cane based raw materials.

Question: What is the social impact created by ENERCAP’s investment?
Mr. Cornehl: ENERCAP’s demand creates a new market for energy crops in the Philippines. Additionally, thousands new (skilled and unskilled) jobs in agriculture, waste manage-ment and transport industry will be backed up and created new. Thus, the migration from the land to the cities in the Philippines can be counteracted.

Question: Is there not a risk that your plant depends completely on one resource produced by the farmers?
Dr.Kuhn: ENERCAP’s „Multi-Feed Concept” allows the use of different energy crops in parallel for the production of bioethanol. ENERCAP can use besides Cassava other starch- or sugar-rich energy crops as raw material (e.g. Maize, Batatas, Sweet Sorghum, etc.) Additionally, ENERCAP will work very closely with the Department of Agriculture (DA) of the Philippines.

Question: Who are you competing with?
Mr. Cornehl: In the Philippines, bioethanol is produced almost only from Sugar Cane. These systems can not use any other energy crops, because they have no conditioning-unit for the use of enzymes. However, yeasts can ferment only Monosaccharides to ethanol. They are not able to saccharify starch.
Originally, the production of bioethanol in the Philippines was only used for the levy and processing of large quantities of Sugar Cane at low sugar prices. Therefore, the existing bioethanol plants are relatively small (typically 40 m³ ethanol / day → ENERCAP 1,050 m³ / day).

Question: Do you have an off-take agreement for the produced Bio-Ethanol?
Dr.Kuhn: ENERCAP’s bioethanol production covers about 90% of the current demand of the Philippines. The domestic bioethanol production is protected by tariffs. The promised PEZA status (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) allows the export of not required bioethanol tax-free e.g. to Japan. Additionally ENERCAP has a tax exemption during the first 6 years.

Question: What is the benefit for the Philippines?
Dr.Kuhn: ENERCAP’s bioethanol production reduces dependence on fossil fuels, especially in countries without oil reserves (→ many countries of SE-Asia). In contrast, this tropical and subtropical countries have excellent conditions for the production of energy crops for biofuel production due to their climate. In addition, e.g. in the Philippines, large parts of agricultural land are not cultivated.
The cultivation of cassava will be placed on additional, previously agricultural fallow land which is currently unused. It will not displace the traditional agriculture. The required areas for the cultivation of cassava for ENERCAP will be structured in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines, certified and scientifically accompanied.

Question: In a conclusion, what would be your summary?
Mr. Cornehl: All listed characteristics cause ENERCAP’s Bioethanol Production in cogeneration with the RDF Power Plant is the world’s most efficient, environment friendly and sustainable Biofuel-Concept. It has a modular design and can also be enlarged or reduced linewise. In addition, it can also be adapted to the special conditions in other countries.

EFG International completes integration of BSI in Luxembourg

Zurich, 3 May 2017
EFG International today announces that it has completed the legal and operational integration of BSI in Luxembourg by way of a merger, including the BSI branch in Italy.
In line with the previously announced gradual process to integrate BSI into EFG, the acquired business from BSI’s entity in Luxembourg, including the BSI branch in Italy, has been migrated to EFG Bank in Luxembourg.

BSI (Europe) S.A, the official name of BSI in Luxembourg, is now legally and operationally integrated into EFG Bank (Luxembourg) S.A. The combined business has its registered office in 56, Grand-Rue, L- 1660 Luxembourg, and will now operate in the market solely under the EFG name.

By way of this merger, EFG further strengthens its presence in Luxembourg, remaining focused on providing superior service with a long-term perspective in wealth and asset management.
With this step, the EFG brand will also be introduced in Italy for the first time. For the combined business, Italy is one of the strategic markets, and EFG is present in Milan, Como and Genoa.

EFG International is a global private banking group offering private banking and asset management services and is headquartered in Zurich. EFG International’s group of private banking businesses operates in around 40 locations worldwide. Its registered shares (EFGN) are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
EFG International AG, Bleicherweg 8, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
www.efginternational.com

Mr. d’Elia, looking at your investment portfolio, it seems that it is quite differentiated, spanning from the water treatment to the bio-ethanol manufacturing.

Why investing in bio-ethanol?
Xeon Fund is a social responsible investor and when selecting the new investment targets we are led by three main criteria:
1. The profitability for our investors
2. The social impact in terms of improvement of the life standards in the communities where the fund invests
3. The environmental impact, in terms of neutrality of the investment or even better making a clear contribution to the environment.

Enercap investments in the bio-ethanol cover all the above-mentioned principles.
Furthermore the demand for bio-ethanol is larger than the current offer and in the next decade the gap is going to increase due also to the blending mandates imposing larger percentage of bio-ethanol in the fuel we buy at the gas station. Today we are between 5 and 10%, the trend is to go up to 20%.

Where are you making the bio-ethanol investments?

Bio-ethanol is an alcohol and for the distillation process you need a starch-rich crop. Most of the manufacturers traditionally use corn or sugar cane.
Enercap has decided to go for an alternative solution, which is more sustainable and environmentally friendly: a non-edible cassava variant.
The main advantage of cassava is that it grows abundantly in sub-tropical countries and is not in competition with edible crops like corn, “fuelling” the debate about “food for tank”.

For the first investments we looked at South-East Asia and we selected the Philippines for the climate and the business environment.
Other sub-tropical countries are on the plate.

What about the Real Estate strategy of Xeon Fund?

Well, we would say we have the full in-house expertise in evaluating and managing investments in the hospitality industry. This is the sector we are currently busy with.
A large investment is currently under way in an exclusive resort in Europe.

Nevertheless we envisage keeping an opportunistic approach to the Real Estate and we make sure we adopt a broader scope in the analysis of the market.
We look also at distressed properties and on a case per case basis we decide to go for it or not.

For doing so we have a dedicated advisory board made of seasoned specialists and professionals advising the board of the fund.

What is to be understood under “water treatment”?

Water treatment means water desalination and water purification.
The fund’s investments aim at providing the water supply to municipalities in regions of the world suffering under water scarcity.
They are mostly locate din the MENA region.

The access to water is a key factor for the local development and in extreme cases it can seriously endanger the living standards of the local populations.

The water related projects are another example of Social Responsible Investments “made by Xeon Fund”.

Xeon Fund SIF SICAV SCA was founded back in 2011 and is a Private Equity umbrella fund with 3 Sub-funds. The fund has been awarded for its Corporate Social and environmental investment strategy.The fund concentrates on Alternative Energies, Water Production and Real Estate. It operates from Luxembourg and is authorised by the Luxembourg regulator CSSF with Visa 2015/101265-7225-0-PC.

Xeon International is the initiator of Xeon Fund and aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within four functional areas: Corporate Finance – Private Equity – Advisory and Family Office services.

Xeon Fund has appointed BSI Europe S.A. (BSIE) as new depositary bank.
BSIE has a special focus on alternative investments and disposes of the skills to understand the thematic linked to this asset class.

Xeon Fund SIF SICAV SCA was founded back in 2011 and is a Private Equity umbrella fund with 3 Sub-funds. The fund has been awarded for its Corporate Social and environmental investment strategy.The fund concentrates on Alternative Energies, Water Production and Real Estate. It operates from Luxembourg and is authorised by the Luxembourg regulator CSSF with Visa 2015/101265-7225-0-PC.

Xeon International is the initiator of Xeon Fund and aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within four functional areas: Corporate Finance – Private Equity – Advisory and Family Office services.

Xeon fund Directors were invited to participate in meetings with leading Energy investors in Geneva – Switzerland. “We are very pleased about the outcome of our meetings” commented Giancarlo d’Elia, CEO of Xeon Fund. “It allows us to receive real feedback about our current offering. In general the appetite for Corporate Social investment is growing very rapidly. Our alternative energies fund ENERCAP is committed to support social development within emerging markets while reducing the overall Carbon Footprint.”

Xeon Fund SIF SICAV SCA was founded back in 2011 and is a Private Equity umbrella fund with 3 Sub-funds. The fund has been awarded for its Corporate Social and environmental investment strategy.The fund concentrates on Alternative Energies, Water Production and Real Estate. It operates from Luxembourg and is authorised by the Luxembourg regulator CSSF with Visa 2015/101265-7225-0-PC.

Xeon International is the initiator of Xeon Fund and aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within four functional areas: Corporate Finance – Private Equity – Advisory and Family Office services.

Today, more than one billion people lack access to safe and clean drinking water.
Population growth, urbanisation, migration and industrialisation, along with increased production and consumption, have generated ever-increasing demands for freshwater resources.
Demand for clean water is projected to increase in all sectors of production (UNESCO WWAP) and by 2030 the world is expected to face a 40% global water deficit under the Business As Usual scenario (UNESCO 2030 WRG).

The MENA (Middle East North Africa) region is among the most highly water stressed region in the world. The water scarcity in the MENA region will grow from 277 billion m3 per year in 2010 to 450 billion m3 per year in 2050.

At the 2015 World Economic forum in Davos, WATER security emerged as the NUMBER ONE global risk in terms of development impact.

SEACAP Fund, a Private Equity fund operating from Luxembourg and available only to “Well Informed Investors” created a unique business model to address the clean water shortages in the MENA region.

“We have a Corporate social responsibility towards our next generation”, comments Yves Duponselle, CEO at Xeon International. “We believe that it is important to add additional criteria to what we define today as a good investment.” “Through SEACAP, we invest in projects with a significant environmental and social impact without compromising on investor returns.” “Indeed Water production facilities in MENA contribute to the local environment and to it’s local community.”

SEACAP Fund has access to state-of-the-art, proprietary, Swiss technologies which gives the Fund a tremendous competitive advantage in the clean water supply industry. “The Fund has developed a unique “mobile water desalination plant” concept which guarantees prompt reaction on the limited tender procedures that are common practice with the local authorities in the MENA region” comments Giancarlo d’Elia CEO at Xeon Fund. “These mobile water desalination plants reduce dramatically the emerging market investment risk associated with the water desalination plants, since plants are mobile and can easily be disassembled and moved to other locations if needed.”

Xeon International aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within four functional areas: Corporate Finance – Private Equity – Advisory and Family Office services.

Mr. d’Elia, Xeon fund Sif Sicav is the Private Equity fund of Xeon International: which investment strategy has the company?

GdE: The investment strategy of Xeon Fund is focused on 3 Asset Classes through it’s dedicated 3 Sub-Funds called RECAP (Real estate), ENERCAP (Alternative Energies) and SEACAP (Water Fund).
We concentrate our efforts on specific industries such as BioFuel, Wind, Hydro and WEE (Electronic Waste) for ENERCAP (Alternative Energy Capital). In the Real estate we look at listed buildings in Germany and niche Hospitality opportunities and for SEACAP we look for Water Manufacturing projects.

 What are the top three industries Xeon Fund is targeting?

GdE: We look at investing in sectors such as:
– Manufacturing
– Consumer & Retail
– Healthcare
– Technology/Media
– Energy
but there are a number of other industries that will become palatable to Private Equity investors in the near future: from Education to Agricultural, from Renewable Energies to Financial and Business Services.

How do you assess the instability of the financial markets and the impact on the investor community?

GdE: The instability is a factor going to become endemic in our markets, so all investors are expected to come to terms with that.
As regards the impact on the Private Equity industry we reckon that it is less exposed to the volatility because of the long term approach of investors: this enables to avoid putting the focus on short terms profitability in favour of future growth.

What are the key success factors for Private Equity funds to succeed?

GdE: Allow me to summarize it as follows:
1. Working capital management
2. Strengthening management of the company
3. Financial and control system implementation
To that I would also add that an efficient capital allocation based on capital needs and priorities plays a primary role.

What’s your view on exit strategies?

GdE: In our target regions the typical exit strategies are IPOs and trade sales: in some markets strategic and trade sales are dominant given limited domestic IPO markets.

Thank you and good luck for the future.

GdE: My pleasure.

Xeon Fund is the Private Equity fund of Xeon international launched last year in Luxembourg with the vocation to invest in the emerging markets of South and South East Asia.
Xeon International Private Equity  division is currently staging a roadshow to attract investors to SEACAP, a dedicated fund targeting industrial investments in fast growing medium sized enterprises.
“Investors are reacting enthusiastically at participating in promising investments in Asia and they are very keen on securing profitable opportunities in the medium term” says Giancarlo d’Elia – Chief Private Equity Officer at Xeon International. “Institutional and private investors are equally interested in SEACAP investment strategy and we have many requests to access SEACAP’s capital in the next few weeks”.

” The SEACAP Fund will tour in Singapore from the first week of February on.”, says Ronny Showkat, Group Managing Partner ME and Asia,” We have some important assets that are combining the best of both worlds as the fund is managed from Luxembourg, today’s second largest hub in the world for fund management , and it invests directly in the growing markets of South and South East Asia, today’s fastest growing economy. Investors in Singapore understand well the potential of the region and that is why we have set the priority to meet investors in this part of the world.”

Xeon International aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within four functional areas: Private Equity – Corporate Finance – Growth Management Advisory and Family Office Services.

Our teams consist mainly of experienced managers with deep theoretical and practical knowledge of their areas of specialisation which ensures rapid comprehension of relevant strategic and operational issues and a solid implementation of solutions. We devise innovative and result-oriented ways to create business value for our clients and investors.

Xeon Fund is the Private Equity fund of Xeon international launched last year in Luxembourg with it’s sub funds in the Real Estate (RECAP) Hospitality and listed building Industry and in Alternative Energies (ENERCAP).
Xeon International Private Equity  division is currently staging a roadshow to attract investors.
“Investors are reacting enthusiastically at participating in promising investments through regulated Private Equity vehicles and they are very keen on securing profitable opportunities in the medium term” says Giancarlo d’Elia – Chief Private Equity Officer at Xeon International.

” The ENERCAP and RECAP Fund will be “on tour” for the next couple of months. Giancarlo adds. We have some interesting asset classes that are combining the best of both worlds as the fund is regulated in Luxembourg, today’s second largest hub in the world for fund management , and it invests directly in the growing industries, such as niche Real Estate and Alternative Energies.”

Xeon International aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within four functional areas: Private Equity – Corporate Finance – Growth Management Advisory and Family Office Services.

Our teams consist mainly of experienced managers with deep theoretical and practical knowledge of their areas of specialisation which ensures rapid comprehension of relevant strategic and operational issues and a solid implementation of solutions. We devise innovative and result-oriented ways to create business value for our clients and investors.

The Private Equity Industry looks to investment again in 2010.

Last year proved to be an extremely challenging year for the Private Equity Industry. The asset class experienced a severe drop in deal flow volume in 2009, accompanied by a significant downward adjustment in valuations for their portfolio companies.

Additionally the Industry had to face the lowest levels of new fundraising since 2004.

“The reverse of fortunes in the previously buoyant debt markets and the changing relationship between private equity and banks has been at the root of the many issues affecting the industry”, says Yves Duponselle, CEO at Xeon international. “Not only has financing for new deals been an issue, but financial management for existing investments has also presented a major worry.” “While Banks have been focusing on bolstering their balance sheets, they have been unwilling to accept write-downs or forgive breaches of loan covenants set during more prosperous times, making it extremely challenging to restructure financing for existing portfolio investments”, commented Yves Duponselle.

“The total value for new private equity backed deals taking place in 2009 was $77bn, a 61% reduction from 2008” 

As a result of these challenging conditions, deal closing for private equity deals has fallen significantly.

Giancarlo d’Elia, CFO at Xeon International commented: “Adverse market conditions have also led to a reduction in the number of exits for private equity firms, a factor affecting the profitability of existing holdings, and a major contributor to the slow-down in the new fundraising market. With firms not being able to exit their portfolio companies at an acceptable level, many are now holding companies for longer periods than initially planned, leading to a significant drop in distributed capital for investors from exited investments in 2008 and 2009.”

The dynamic of the private equity market has changed, and as a result limited partners in funds have been far less keen to invest in new private equity vehicles. In 2009, private equity fundraising had its worst fundraising year since 2004, with only $246bn raised by 482 funds worldwide. This is 61% down on the $636bn raised in 2008, and 62% down on the record $646bn raised in 2007.

“The drop in fundraising can also be explained by the poor returns experienced by the industry since the onset of the financial crisis”, commented Giancarlo d’Elia. “Over a one-year period to June 2009 private equity returned –23%, with mega buyouts returning –31%. With deal-flow down, fundraising down, leveraged finance not available at the same rate as in the past, and the market for exits also suffering, the state of the asset class looks relatively bleak.” “However, while past performance is by no means an indication of future returns, if funds raised during the last period of economic downturn are examined, there is certainly evidence that funds raised during difficult periods can actually perform extremely well”, says Yves Duponselle.

“Nevertheless, we are seeing early signs of an improvement in fund performance, with the value of funds increasing between the first and second quarters of 2009 . The only metric still on a downward trend is fundraising, with the final quarter of 2009 setting a new low point” says Yves Duponselle. “ Our conversations with investors do show that although confidence is still a world away from the levels seen in 2007, there is reason to believe that the level of commitments will start to improve in 2010, with 51% of investors polled indicating that they would invest more capital in 2010 than 2009, and only 8% investing less.”

Xeon International aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within three functional areas: Project Financing – Fund Management & M&A – Growth Management.
Our teams consist mainly of experienced managers with deep theoretical and practical knowledge of their areas of specialisation which ensures rapid comprehension of relevant strategic and operational issues and a solid implementation of solutions. We devise innovative and result-oriented ways to create business value for our clients and investors.