New reverse mergers in biofuel and solar

November 30, 2006 - Exclusive
By Dana Childs, Cleantech Group

In addition to the (ho-hum, yawn) millions in cash doled out by investors, this week in greentech was marked by a couple of reverse mergers, as small companies shuffle to get the best possible seats on their various trains before leaving their various stations.

They're the latest. But we hazard a guess that they won't be the last.

  • Biofuel company NexGen Fuel is taking the fast track to becoming publicly traded: Healthcare Technologies of Israel, traded on the Nasdaq as HCTL, has signed a letter of intent to acquire NexGen, a developer of biofuel plants primarily in the U.S.
  • Interactive Games of Florida amusingly noted that its present business plan had been "impacted by recent legislative changes", so it's getting out of wireless gaming and into biofuels. It's signed a letter of intent to acquire Colorado startup Nuvo Solar Energy. Nuvo is working to develop smaller, more efficient solar cells.
  • WorldWater & Power announced today it's getting a total of $18M from EMCORE in exchange for convertible preferred stock and warrants. It's received most of the cash, but some is still outstanding. EMCORE is a provider of semiconductor components and subsystems for the broadband, fiber optic, satellite and solar photovoltaic markets.
  • Blue Wolf Capital Management has agreed to acquire Pittsburgh-based landfill gas developer Montauk Energy from DQE Financial Corp., a subsidiary of Duquesne Light Holdings Inc. The deal is valued at approximately $110M.
  • Electronics recycler Intechra, formerly Gold Circuit, has received $6.5M more from existing investors, including Richland Ventures, Clayton Associates, Chrysalix Ventures and more.
  • Applied Materials has invested $3 million in Solaicx, maker of mono-crystal silicon wafers for the solar industry.
  • Publicly traded ultracapacitor & battery maker Maxwell Technologies (NASDAQ: MXWL) has filed to raise an additional $125 million by selling "various equity or debt securities", "if and when market conditions and circumstances warrant"
  • American Superconductor is to acquire Windtec, a private company based in Klagenfurt, Austria that develops and licenses proprietary wind turbine system designs and sells wind turbine electrical systems. The deal is for 1.3 million shares of AMSC common stock, valued at approximately $12.4 million USD.
  • Agrivida, an agricultural biotech company focused on renewable, biomass-based alternative fuels and raw materials, has raised some $600,000 in seed funding. Investors include incTank Ventures and Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories.
  • SES Solar of Geneva has received the equivalent of $3.7M from a private placement, and is still expecting additional funds to close. Proceeds are to be used for the construction of a solar panel and solar roof tile manufacturing facility in Geneva.
  • The Beam, a Cambridge, Mass.-based operator of an online directory of green design and building professionals, has raised $5.17 million in Series A funding led by VantagePoint Venture Partners.

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