Chapter 27
SunRay Renewable Energy:Private equity in the sunshinea
It was almost midnight in Tel Aviv on a Friday in January 2010, as Yael Talmor watched the heavy traffic flow towards the nightlife district from the 28th floor offices of SunRay Renewable Energy (SunRay). She was still at work, preparing documents for due diligence on SunPower Corporation’s (SunPower) USD300mn takeover bid for SunRay. This acquisition would cement SunPower’s vertical integration strategy by increasing its pipeline of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation projects by 1,200 megawatts (MW) in Southern Europe.1
Over 2,000 miles away, Tulika Raj-Joshi looked out over the Thames from the London office of Denham Capital Management (Denham). Tulika was also still at work, assembling piles of documents and coordinating closely with colleagues at SunRay and Denham Capital. She thought back at her MBA project at London Business School (LBS). SunRay, then a newly formed business, had commissioned her team to conduct a strategic review of the renewable energy market in the European Union (EU).
At the helm of SunRay was Yoram Amiga, a serial entrepreneur in private equity and property investments. Subsequent to a successful career in commodities, he shifted his interest to new ventures. Working with other investment partners closely attached to the LBS community resulted in a steady flow of graduating MBAs as full-time employees as well as students for ad hoc projects at both the holding and portfolio companies. ...
