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The 60 participants in the Wisdom Small and Mid-Scale LNG Conference in Amsterdam agreed on one thing: The demand for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) will grow enormously over the next 15-20 years. Royal Dutch Shell had concrete forecasts for this: in 2035, the world could deliver 600 million tons of transportable liquefied gas per year, more than twice as much as in 2017, according to Shell’s LNG Outlook for 2018, which was introduced by Shell’s Senior Advisor Gas Strategy Wouter Koopman.

From 2020 onwards, Shell expects a growing deficit in LNG: Although the gas market grows only one percent per year, the role of LNG as a resource for power plants or for the propulsion of ships is steadily increasing. “Gas is an easy subsitute to coal if we want to contribute to climate goals,” says Koopman. The additional volumes of liquefied petroleum gas, which manufacturers from Russia, the US and soon also from Canada on the market rinse, will not be able to keep pace with the growing demand, according to the expert.

Florian Willershausen, Director Business Development, Marketing and Communications, participated in the strategy panel for Creon Capital. He pointed out that the infrastructure was not adequate for refueling ships and trucks – and banks are still struggling to finance such projects. “We have to design this infrastructure with the help of modern instruments for project financing and involving private equity partners,” says Willershausen. The aim is to develop the entire value chain from the producer through the logistics to the end user. The Creon Energy Fund, managed by Creon Capital, is dedicated to this task.

For more information please contact:
Leila Nettaf
Creon Capital
T. +352 26 49 79 2203
E. nettaf@creoncapital.lu

Professionalism, experience, transparency – these are the values that Creon Capital stands for in Luxembourg. This is now confirmed by an independent ranking on the quality of Board compositions: Out of 2191 Alternative investment funds under European jurisdiction, whose management structures the London-based consulting firm IFI Global had examined, the Board of Creon Energy Fund achieved a top 50 ranking. The Sicav-SIF Fund managed by Creon Capital is listed in the “AA” category and ranks alongside with well-known funds from 3i, Blackrock and Blackstone.

IFI Global justifies the top placement of Creon Energy Fund with the “broad and impressive range of five individuals acting as directors”. Criteria for the rating were the board members’ professional background, as well as their experience and how one’s knowledge complements to others. The availability and transparence of this information was also crucial. The latter is not a matter of course, according to the findings of the study published in the monthly newsletter “The NED”: “A common feature of fund boards is to include big name directors, presumably to help capital raising”, says the study. However, this does not always mean that these people also play an active role in management.

Transparency is a weak point of many funds. There are funds under European jurisdiction that disclose “the bare minimum” of information about directors, so that the regulatory requirements are met. The researchers of IFI Global’s “The NED Risk and Governance” assessed a large variety of levels of professionalism on fund boards. It is the rankings goal to encourage funds with weak boards to improve them.

For Creon Capital and the Creon Energy Fund, the positive rating result is a confirmation, said Board Chairman Dr. Fares Kilzie: “Since the founding of the fund, we have relied on proven industry and country experts who understand their areas of responsibility better than anyone else. This is the only way we can work together with our partners to bring ongoing investment projects to success and create real value.”

Learn more about “The NED” Risk and Governance: http://nedglobal.com/

For more information please contact:

Creon Capital S.á.r.l.

Florian Willershausen
Director BD & Marcom
Cell: +352 621 235 126
E-Mail: fw@creoncapital.lu
www.creoncapital.lu

Only two years ago, Uzbekistan was an almost closed country: Hardly any investor ventured into the Central Asian Republic with its 30 million inhabitants, where President Islom Karimov had established a kind of nepotism beyond comparison. But when, after his death in September 2016, long-time Prime Minister Shavkat Miziyoyev took the lead, Uzbekistan is opening: the government is working against corruption and bureaucracy, it has noticeably improved the investment climate, facilitates exports and is in the process of creating a zero tax regimes for investors.

According to the World Bank, Uzbekistan is today one of the world’s top 10 reforming countries. The economy grew by 5.3 percent last year, with an increase of 5.5 percent expected this year. Investors who have been waiting for a long time and feared a roll-back to hard autocracy and isolation are now interested in the country – including Creon Capital. The Creon Energy Fund is currently exploring several investment opportunities in the country’s chemicals sector, all of which are export-oriented.

In May, Creon Capital Manager Florian Willershausen participated in a delegation trip of the Eastern Committee of German Business. The 70-member delegation from Germany attended a business conference in Tashkent, where companies such as Siemens promised their first concrete investment. Creon Capital also met with Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov, who was very open to investment from Europe and promised maximum support at the administrative level.

Florian Willershausen commented positively on the results of the trip: “After years of isolation, the opening up of the country is more than just a government PR program. Small and medium-sized companies are venturing out of their way, who see great opportunities in the processing of oil and gas.” In the medium term, Uzbekistan could become a real growth driver in Central Asia, says Willershausen.

For more information please contact:

Creon Capital S.a.r.l.
Leila Nettaf
T. +352 26 49 79 2203
E. nettaf@creoncapital.lu
5, allée Scheffer, L-2520 Luxembourg

Several German cities plan to ban diesel-powered vehicles from city districts – further bans will follow throughout Europe. Stricter sulfur and carbon dioxide limit values on the North and Baltic Seas, as well as later in the Mediterranean, are forcing the ship-owners to make extensive retrofits. And so, the diesel gradually fades from roads and sea routes.

LNG could benefit from it. The burning of liquefied natural gas produces only a fraction of the pollutants compared to diesel, gasoline or heavy fuel oil – and the range is greater. But it lacks the value chain – from liquefaction to transport fueling the entire supply-chain is missing, preventing the fuel’s final breakthrough in the gas station business. How this can be achieved was a subject of the recent LNG conference organized by Wisdom Events in Hamburg.

Wisdom gathered the who-is-who of the industry: representatives of ENI, Elengy, Gas Natural Fenosa, Uniper, Fluxys, Linde subsidiary Nautricor, Baker Hughes and NASA were present to discuss the chicken egg problem: If the decrease of LNG in large quantities is not secured, nobody will run a gas station. As long as LNG prices fluctuate, a freight forwarder will shy away from switching its fleet to LNG. Without the critical mass of demand, an LNG supplier will not offer the gas on long-term contracts with reasonable pricing.

Creon Capital is ready to invest in projects along the value chain for small and mid-scale LNG through the Creon Energy Fund. “We believe in strong medium term growth in this segment,” said Florian Willershausen, BD Director of the Luxembourg Private Equity Fund. “Banks are hesitating to finance because of the high volatility in the market. As a consequence, an equity partner like us is more than ever needed to realize the projects.” Creon Capital is currently evaluating several potential LNG projects and technology providers in Europe.

The US is likely to replace Eurasia as the world’s largest gas producer by the end of 2018. Within ten years, US companies have been able to keep developing their fracking technology. As a result, the country is not only able to meet domestic demand through domestic gas production, but also to gain a foothold in exports.

America’s LNG market was the subject of a conference organized by CREON’s partner Wisdom Events partners on 27 and 28 February in Houston, Texas. Creon Capital was on board as silver sponsor. Florian Willershausen, Director of Business Development, Marketing & Communications, discussed the LNG market and current challenges in a panel discussion with representatives from GE, Red Box, SNC Lavalin and Monkey Island LNG.

There are many challenges for the US gas market, though. It is not a coincidence, that in the past two and a half years no final investment decision has been made for the construction of new large-scale export terminals: The US manufacturers have difficulties to find customers for their hydrocarbons, given the current oversupply of gas. Since the good utilization of the terminals is crucial for banks and equity partners in the context of project financing, many projects are on hold.

Over the next few years, Australia will bring more gigantic quantities of liquefied natural gas onto the world market. At the same time, Eurasia is increasing its export of gas in the form of LNG and pipeline supplies. Nonetheless, analysts expect China’s rapidly growing demand to rapidly absorb additional available volumes.

In general, the Creon Energy Fund is also holding back on the financing of the large-scale LNG infrastructure. Instead, Creon Capital, as a fund manager, is examining entry into technology companies that make the handling and transportation of LNG more efficient. An entry into small scale LNG projects, especially in Europe, can also be an attractive topic for the Fund. The latter are aimed primarily at the supply of decentralized power plants, as well as the refueling of ships and truck fleets. These are growth markets that CREON keeps a clear eye on.

You have any questions, remarks or project ideas? Please contact us: fw@creoncapital.lu

There are some good news from Italy, most recently: The country left a deep recession crisis behind. The economy is growing again, the situation on the labor market has eased, no more banks threatened to collapse due to large non-performing loans. At the same time, the country returns to an economic growth with appears to be much more sustainable than ever before. Italy fulfilled and over-fulfilled the targets of the European Energy and Climate strategy already, reducing the level of energy consumption by 24 percent compared to the 1990’s, “Renewables” account already for 18.6 percent of the energy mix.

These “good news” are no “bad news” for the gas industry, though. Finally, Italy pushes forward reforms of the gas distribution market and the diversification of gas supplies. The regulator is keen to develop a liquid gas hub for Southern Europe, which will lead to more competition on the domestic market and increased exports soon.

Creon Capital identified five directions of investments in Italy, which could provide attractive opportunities for the Fund and its partners. This is the conclusion of a study, which was presented by the Fund’s Business Development Director Florian Willershausen in Milan during a Wisdom conference on Small Scale LNG.

In particular, the Italian market is in need for additional gas storage facilities, Small Scale LNG terminals, new trading platforms, new LNG suppliers and operators, who are capable to provide solutions for peak shaving and emergency management.

Concrete investment projects are under discussion already. The presentation can be downloaded under this link. In case of questions don’t hesitate to contact us under: info@creoncapital.lu

Creon Capital is a value-oriented European company, which manages investments in Eurasia.

Creon Capital follows strict European values and compliance standards while investing.

Licensed as SICAV-SIF by the Luxembourg Financial Authority CSSF, the Creon Energy Fund is monitored in the strictest manner by several independent external institutions: Auditor: Ernst & Young, Depositary: Intertrust, Legal advisor: Arendt & Medernach, CSSF. Compliance is an integral part of our culture.

Creon Capital S.á.r.l. is a Luxembourg based Alternative Investment Fund Manager.

With implementation of the ALFI Code of Conduct, we permanently monitor the compliance risks and communicate them to all our investors. For our partners in emerging markets we provide all necessary assistance to advance their corporate governance to a European level. We see ourselves and our projects as positive examples of how to work successfully in Eurasia.

Creon Energy Fund received its’ license from Luxembourg’s financial market authority CSSF in August 2016. In the months following, the Fund’s management started to source the first viable project ideas. Currently, approximately 40 investment projects are under review. We started with our investments in early 2019.

The transaction stream of the Fund is primarily achieved through the comprehensive and extensive network of Creon Energy in the Eurasian market, with its unique access to exceptional opportunities. The Fund team is further exploring technology companies in Europe having high probability potential across Eurasia.

ISIN number: LU1699969546 (Class C)

We are committed in our belief in the potential of Eurasia.

It is our task as The Creon Group to take a leadership role and create value in Eurasia. We invest in companies which are anxious and impatient to enter export markets by modernizing their facilities. We assist them to rescale to production, improve quality and when required, find them the relevant working partners.

Modernization: We co-invest to provide financing dedicated to modernizing equipment, which is generally a precondition for competitiveness in global markets.
Export-orientation: Many companies would like to expand their export markets, but lack customers, technology partners or financial resources. We can help find such partners and we are eager to assist when it comes to production up-scaling.
Diversification: Some countries rely too much on crude exports, which is a weakness in times of declining market prices. Our investments reduce this dependence.
Supporting SME: We can assist in a restructuring process making companies more attractive to financial institutions.
Green technologies: We support ideas dedicated to increase manufacturing efficiency and reduce emission as we believe in clean techas an economic driver in the future.

We are a value-adding investor
Creon Capital wants to contribute to diversification and modernization in Eurasia by investing in medium-sized chemical processing projects. Such investments are small for large corporations, but too large for SMEs without access to financial markets.

The success of a Private Equity Fund eminently depends on the network of its investment professionals. Creon Capital’s experienced and seasoned team has established structures to review dozens of teasers and business plans every week. Identifying projects with the most attractive return opportunities is a threefold approach:

1. We listen to Understand

By taking the time to listen and understand the wants and needs of our partners and clients, we are able to offer them investment and strategic strategies perfectly tuned to create value for all involved.

We are in constant contact with our partners through-out the world ensuring a timely hands-on approach. By putting collaborative relationships at the heart of our work we are able to maintain, sustain and develop new markets, suppliers and business opportunities encompassing our areas of work and expertise.

2. We analyze

Once our partners’ needs and goals are identified, we assess their project ideas. Our goal is to help our clients develop a set of practical and interlocking capabilities that reveal and maximize the profitable use of the data appropriate to their situation such as market size, export opportunities, risks and the like.

We operate with the purpose of bringing life to the mission, goals, and overall vision of our clients. Strategic planning is the foundation we build on to enhance our clients’ success whether advising manufacturers to scale-up their quantity/quality, assisting in finding the relevant technology or finding equity partners.

3. We engage

We speak the language. Though It is not easy to manage and administer a production facility in Russia and CIS countries our Moscow-based project managers do. There are also certain cultural constraints that are often encountered in business including local attitudes, language, religion, management style etc. To be successful, we need to mold our business actions in accordance with these local cultural models. Globally expanding businesses require a wide range of expertise and knowledge that operates under a variety of managers coming from different cultures. This is where our project managers excel. They have the expertise and business acumen to navigate these business waters.

Older Posts

Tremendous growth in LNG demand expected

Transparency Ranking: Board of Creon Energy Fund ranks among the top 50 in Europe

Fund Manager accompanied large business delegation to Uzbekistan

LNG event in Hamburg: How to shape the value-chain of LNG

Creon Capital joined US LNG conference in Houston

Creon Capital identified LNG investment opportunities in Italy

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1. We listen to Understand

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