Investment announced in silver reduction paste project
Infinity Group, a cross-border, private equity platform, has announced that the Infinity IP Bank, together with the Infinity Suzhou Fund, has completed a transaction which includes a three-part investment. The three parts include: PV Nano Cell (PVN), LEED and a newly formed joint venture between PVN and LEED. Infinity initiated and structured the deals in cooperation with LEED. A combined total of US$4.8M is being invested in the aforementioned three entities. This total includes LEED's participation in the financing of the JV.
"The investment announced is part of Infinity's ongoing activity in structuring and investing in cross border deals between companies in and outside of China. We see real potential in both PVN and LEED. We also clearly see the outstanding possibilities of combining their skills sets, talents and deliverables. This is why we have also invested in the JV," said Amir Gal-Or, founder and managing partner of Infinity Group.
According to the agreements, the funding will be used by PVN for R&D, by LEED to expand its presence in the Chinese market and by the JV to establish manufacturing and sales capabilities as well as product localization.
PVN, an Israeli company based in Migdal-Ha'Emek, is developing a nano-metric silver dispersion technology for inkjets that enables solar industry silicon cell manufacturers to achieve a significant cost reduction in the manufacturing process in parallel with an improvement in overall cell efficiency. The company is also in the process of developing new nano material based products for other applications and industries.
LEED, a Chinese company based in Zhouzhou Hunan, for more than a decade has provided electronic pastes for the solar industry as well as other industries. Its clientele consists of high-end customers, many of which are listed or are state-owned companies. The company operates in the new materials industry, one of the seven industries the Chinese central government is strongly supporting.
"The core advantages of inkjet technology include high precision and speed, good performance as well as savings in raw material usages. These advantages have led to a consistent increase in the usage of the technology in many industries. It is clear that this steady increase will continue as the market potential is also substantial in other sizable and growing industries in China. In order to benefit from the current and future market potential, PVN and LEED have established a JV registered in Suzhou Industrial Park, which will initially focus on manufacturing and promoting the nano metallization ink to be used by inkjet printers in the solar manufacturing process," said Mr. Gal-Or.
"We consider the Infinity Group investment a vote of confidence in the company and its products. We are aware of the difficulties faced by small companies like us in overcoming the cultural and business differences between countries as different as Israel and China. Infinity Group is our "bridge". They are successfully assisting us with our expansion to China. So far, we have focused on the photovoltaic market there, but we also intend to apply our technologies to other sectors, such as the printing of various flexible electronic devices," said PVN CEO Dr. Fernando de la Vega.
