Whisper Tech shareholding change
Thursday, 6 July 2006
Christchurch based electricity network company Orion New Zealand has announced the sale of the majority of its interest in Whisper Tech - the Christchurch based developer and manufacturer of small scale co-generation units.
Orion has sold approximately 45% of Whisper Tech to the other main shareholder in the business, Meridian Energy, for $12m leaving Orion with a 5% interest in the business.
Orion CEO Roger Sutton said "We have elected to sell most of our stake in this great homegrown technology business to another New Zealand owned company as we believe that company, Meridian Energy, is better placed to take Whisper Tech forward. Whisper Tech has achieved remarkable success since Orion first invested in it in 1995 and we continue to believe that it has outstanding potential. That belief is reflected in the fact that we have retained a minority 5% holding in the business so that we can continue to benefit from its future gains."
Mr Sutton said "The sale of the majority of our stake for $12m recoups the investment we have made in Whisper Tech over the last three years. Unfortunately it is not sufficient to recover the total early development costs (around $15m). However, as we have previously written off all of our Whisper Tech investment costs up to 31 March 2006 we will record a surplus on the sale of this investment in the 2007 financial year.
"Reducing our shareholding in Whisper Tech, and last year’s sale of our investment in listed Australian renewable energy company Energy Developments Limited for a profit of approximately $17m, is part of our ongoing investment harvest strategy."
Meridian Energy Chief Executive Keith Turner says the company is excited about the prospects for Whisper Tech, which he described as a New Zealand-developed technology capable of delivering energy efficiencies at the same time as reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
"There is a huge market worldwide for technologies that have these attributes and we believe that Whisper Tech is a unique product that has the potential to be adopted on a significant scale," he said.
Dr Turner says that this is yet another example of commercialising New Zealand research and development on a world stage. "We have excellent world class capability in our universities and research institutions and are very pleased to be working with a talented team at Whisper Tech to commercialise this technology and strive towards making the company a reference point for New Zealand engineering and technology expertise".
Dr Turner says in the short term Whisper Tech will be looking to establish manufacturing capacity that can deliver the product in a quality, volume and price competitive with traditional forms of home heating.
About Orion New Zealand Limited
Orion’s investments have in total yielded over $200m in profits for its ultimate owners, the Christchurch City and Selwyn District Councils, over the last six years. Orion’s recent strategic direction has been to sell its non-core investments at opportune times and focus management attention on Orion’s electricity distribution network. Orion’s electricity network is rated as one of the most reliable and efficient in New Zealand.
About Whisper Tech (www.whispertech.co.nz)
Whisper Tech, formed in 1995, is a leading business dedicated to the design, development and implementation of innovative AC Micro Combined Heat and Power (microCHP) and DC Marine /Remote power systems.
Whisper Tech has its research and development and manufacturing facilities based in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Whisper Tech has developed two co-generation systems, the AC WhisperGenTM and the DCWhisperGenTM, for international distribution and owns several worldwide patents for these systems.
For more information, contact:
Roger Sutton
Chief Executive Officer
Orion New Zealand
03 3636 9846
Mobile 027 4333 632
www.oriongroup.co.nz
Alan Seay
Meridian Energy
021 494 475
www.meridianenergy.co.nz
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