Emirates Business reported that Siemens is negotiating with Masdar for a stake in Clean Tech Fund 2 that is being developed to invest in international technology companies. Siemens already has a stake in the USD 250 million, Masdar Clean Tech Fund 1, which was established in November 2006, in partnership with Credit Suisse, Consensus Business Group and Siemens.
Mr Fergi Varghese, director of corporate communications, Middle East, at Siemens said that "We are in Masdar Clean Tech 1 with a stake of USD 25 million. We are innovation collaborator in the fund and help select the kind of technologies they go for and invest in. This is where we play our role. Clean Tech Fund 2 is coming up and we are in talks with Masdar on that. It is being developed and we are interested in it."
The Masdar Clean Tech Fund 1 deployed its capital in 2007 and 2008 taking strategic equity stakes in companies such as Segway, Halosource, Euro plasma, Sulfurcell, Heliovolt, SIC Processing and Ener Tech Environmental.
Mr Varghese further said that Siemens is already seeing some good in Fund 1 investments across the world and is in talks with Masdar for a role in its Clean Tech Fund 2. About Siemens and Masdar partnership, he said that "We work quite closely with Masdar, because it is one of the most interesting initiatives in this place. It came at the same time we developed our energy efficiency and environment portfolio.”
Mr Varghese also said that Siemens continuously negotiates with investors in the region to form further partnerships in various areas, particularly in the energy sector. He added that the firm has installed a capacity of 7,600 MW in the Gulf.
(Sourced from www.emiratebusiness.com)
