Lawyers from Clifford Chance's Prague office have advised the European Investment Bank on its up to EUR 50 million equity investment into Inven Capital, an internally managed, qualified-investor Czech SICAV fund, fully-owned by the regional energy group CEZ, to support the growth of clean energy and smart technology SMEs and midcaps. DBK Partners advised Inven Capital.
According to Clifford Chance, EIB agreed to co-invest into Inven Capital on a 50:50 basis with CEZ under a Joint-Co-Investment Program. This is EIB's first equity investment in the Czech Republic, and the transaction is backed by a guarantee from the European Fund for Strategic Investments, which is the central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe.
According to Clifford Chance, "this EUR 100 million co-investment initiative will provide additional liquidity to leading European venture capital-dependent SMEs and midcaps in the energy sector. These companies are typically in a growth stage and need early-stage investments to innovate and expand their product and service offering, increase their productivity and manufacturing capacity and expand internationally."
The Clifford Chance team in Prague advising on the transaction was led by Managing Partner Alex Cook, with Senior Associate Michal Jasek as executive lawyer. The team also included Associate Ludvik Ruzicka and Junior Associate Zuzana Moravkova.
