O'Reilly energy efficiency company gets €93m

Australia-based Bayard Group, founded by Cameron O'Reilly in 2002, has raised more than A$150 million (€93 million) to fund further growth and acquisitions, it said yesterday.

The international energy measurement and efficiency company said the fundraising had been over-subscribed by a factor of two.

The funding came from new and existing private and institutional shareholders, Mr O'Reilly said. The funds will allow the group to look at further acquisitions in businesses that contribute to the more efficient use of resources and better environmental outcomes, he said.

Mr O'Reilly said the group has anticipated global growth in "smart metering". Smart meters can record not just how much energy has been used but when it was used, thereby allowing for differing energy rates to be applied for different periods of the day or week.

Bayard has invested more than A$300 million in the energy measurement and efficiency sector in the past three years and is now the world's largest manufacturer of electricity meters.

Mr O'Reilly said Bayard is well positioned to grow the business over the next two years with a view to a public listing in the medium term. The company has a revenue base of A$750 million and operations in 27 countries.

Three major new shareholders have joined the group. They are: Allianz Capital Partners; Sofina SA (a Belgian plc); and Dubai International Capital. Existing shareholders include: DB Capital Partners; Douglas Myers; John Fairfax; Sir Anthony O'Reilly; Kerry Stokes; the Jack and Robert Smorgon families; and Sears Wiederkehr.

"We are very pleased with our success in attracting major new global investors into Bayard, which reflects the confidence instutitional shareholders here and overseas have shown in Bayard and in what we are trying to achieve," said Mr O'Reilly.

"Including this new capital raising, Bayard has the capacity to make equity investments of more than A$400 million, in line with the group's strategy to build a global company that provides a modern, digital-era platform for improved energy efficiency."

He said that while the company was currently focusing on growth and acquisitions in the energy efficiency and conservation areas, it is intended that in time the company will "branch into other areas that contribute to better environmental outcomes, such as water conservation".