Prothea successfully promoted a partnership between SUSI Partners AG (SUSI) and Energa Group S.r.l. (Energa) to foster energy efficiency in Italy. SUSI Energy Efficiency Fund II (SEEFII) and Energa signed a framework agreement to refinance energy performance contracts between Energa and its clients with a volume of up to EUR 10 million. The portfolio is expected to achieve CO2 emission savings of up to 2.000 tons per year.

Under the financing framework agreement, SUSI and Energa have concluded the purchase of receivables of an initial portfolio consisting of more than 30 energy performance contracts. The contracts typically entrust Energa to upgrade, operate and maintain a number of energy efficiency measures in condominiums and residential buildings.

Energa has wide experience in the field of energy efficiency and is active in the Italian market. Given its successful track record as an Energy Service Company (ESCO), Energa is looking to further enhance its positioning in the market by leveraging on its consolidated network focusing on condominiums, SMEs and local public administrations. SUSI, through its sustainable energy infrastructure funds, is actively engaged in the financing of energy efficiency projects and is currently expanding its energy efficiency investment platform. SUSI's financing has been structured to achieve an off-balance sheet accounting treatment for Energa and to enhance scalability of Energa's pipeline.

In Italy, there are about 14.5 million buildings, of which 12.2 are residential buildings. Of these, more than 70% have been constructed before 1980 and half of them are deemed to be very energy inefficient. The EU and the Italian government adopted several measures to incentivize private and public initiatives to upgrade buildings' energy efficiency (in Italy, 98% exhibit an efficiency class between "G" and "C").

David Armanini, CEO of Prothea: "Private financing partnerships are key to realizing the ambitious targets of our national energy efficiency strategy. It has been a pleasure and an honour to promote this transaction which we are confident will give great stimulus to Energa's business".
Carlo Buffa, shareholder of Energa's holding: "Thanks to Prothea, we have been able to combine our engineering and execution skills with SUSI's financial capabilities. We will now be able to execute our strategic plan and continue in our commitment of improving efficiency of national real estate assets.".
Stefano Fissolo, Director at SUSI: "We are excited that our partnership with Energa allows us to participate in improving energy efficiency of Italian residential buildings; this is a sector that could boost carbon emission savings in the country".

The transaction was also supported by law firm DLA Partners.



About Prothea

Prothea is an independent advisory boutique based in Milan offering advisory and asset management services in the renewable energy and infrastructure sectors. Over the last five years, Prothea executed transactions for a total value in excess of EUR 2.5 billion, advising primarily institutional investors both Italian and International.

About Energa Group

Energa is a Milan-based engineering company active in the energy efficiency sector. Established in 1988, Energa has developed and managed more than 300 production facilities serving over 15,000 housings, industrial and commercial buildings. As of today, Energa has more than 40 operational projects with an average residual duration of 6+ years and an investment value of about EUR 3 million. Moreover, Energa has built a large commercial pipeline of 138 projects at different stage of development resulting in a potential aggregated investment value in excess of EUR 15 million.

About SUSI Partners

SUSI Partners is a Swiss infrastructure fund manager specializing in sustainable investments supporting the energy transition. The firm currently manages approximately EUR 1 billion in investor commitments across five funds focused on opportunities in clean energy generation, energy efficiency enhancements, and energy storage and solutions. With a successful track record of more than 80 transactions to date, SUSI Partners seeks to achieve attractive, stable and uncorrelated returns, while contributing to global climate targets by reducing C02 emissions.