Engie has acquired a majority stake in energy and flexibility aggregator KiWi Power in a deal which has seen chief executive Yoav Zingher leave the company.
KiWi Power confirmed the deal this morning, revealing that Engie had acquired the stakes held by both Zingher and fellow co-founder Ziko Abram.
French power giant Engie had already invested in KiWi three years ago. The duo entered into a “strategic relationship” in 2015 to expand the latter’s demand response services and to develop energy storage projects, and the new acquisition is intended to strengthen that collaboration.
Engie has become the majority shareholder in KiWi Power, with the second-largest share held by an unnamed private equity firm.
A statement issued by KiWi Power this morning said the deal marked the “next phase of growth” for the firm and would allow it to upscale its technology for further deployment in the UK and across the world, utilising Engie’s existing operations.
“The entire team at KiWi Power would like to extend their gratitude to its shareholders and to Engie for their continued support. KiWi Power looks forward to an exciting future of growth, innovation, and above all, the continued delivery of a dedicated and professional service to its clients,” the statement read.
Current± understands that Zingher is to be replaced on an interim basis by Yuval Tamir, the firm’s COO and UK general manager.
An Engie spokesperson said: “As from its strategic investment three years previously, Engie and KiWi have cooperated to deploy demand response and energy storage applications across the UK and Europe. This acquisition builds on this experience, with the aim of rolling out KiWi’s best-in-class technology across Engie’s global customer base, and strengthening the collaboration of the KiWi team with the Engie family.”
