Aquila Capital is an

investment management Investment management (sometimes referred to more generally as financial asset management) is the professional asset management of various Security (finance), securities, including shareholdings, Bond (finance), bonds, and other assets, such as r ...

company with headquarters in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 2001 by Roman Rosslenbroich and Dieter Rentsch. Aquila Capital focuses on real assets and sustainable investments. The company manages more than €14.7 billion for institutional investors and is among Europe’s leading investment companies in

climate change mitigation Climate change mitigation (or decarbonisation) is action to limit the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change. Climate change mitigation actions include energy conservation, conserving energy and Fossil fuel phase-out, repl ...

History

The company was founded in 2001 and began investing in real assets, especially agriculture and forestry, followed by

hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

(including storage), finally raising funds for

solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

and

wind energy Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ...

, logistics, and real estate. The company is focused on sustainable investments with the aim to support the decarbonization of the world’s infrastructure in light of climate change. In 2016, Aquila Capital received public attention for launching a €500 million vehicle to invest in infrastructure assets and funds. It was open to both institutional and wealthy private investors. In 2018, Aquila Capital financed the expansion of European hydropower by partnering with a Dutch pension investor. Furthermore, Aquila Capital is the portfolio adviser of Aquila European Renewables (AER), which raised €154.3 million during its

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

(IPO) in May 2020. AER is both listed on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

and since October 2023 also on

Euronext Dublin Euronext Dublin (formerly the Irish Stock Exchange, ISE; ) is Ireland's main stock exchange, and has been in existence since 1793. The Euronext Dublin lists debt and fund securities and is used as a European gateway exchange for companies seek ...

. In 2018, the company received the ''Swedish Renewable Energy Award'' for its long-time commitment to transitioning to a low-carbon society. In 2019, the infrastructure arm of Daiwa Securities, a Japanese investment bank and the country’s the second-largest

brokerage firm A broker is a person or entity that arranges transactions between a Purchasing, buyer and a sales, seller. This may be done for a commission (remuneration), commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer b ...

, acquired a 40 % stake in Aquila Capital which marked the company’s commitment to further expand its global presence. In 2021, Aquila Capital’s

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

Aquila Group bundled its clean energy development capacities in Aquila Clean Energy, an integrated clean energy business that combines the technical expertise required to develop greenfield projects with the financial capabilities to structure capital and manage merchant market risk. In September 2022, Aquila Clean Energy received a €1 billion financing by a build-to-sell construction facility from the European Investment Bank and a consortium of seven commercial banks, backed by the European Union’s InvestEU programme, to support the development of renewable energy assets in Southern Europe. It was one of the biggest loans ever granted by the European Investment Bank under a project finance structure. Currently, Aquila Capital ranks among the most significant investment managers in Europe. The company’s main business areas are renewable energy, real estate, energy efficiency, forestry, and data centres.

Corporate structure

Aquila Capital is part of Aquila Group, a holding company for investment management and asset development companies active in

EMEA Europe, the Middle East and Africa, commonly known by its acronym EMEA among the North American business spheres, is a geographical region used by institutions, governments and global spheres of marketing, media and business when referring to t ...

and APAC. Aquila Capital is a regulated Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) licensed under German law and subject to supervision of the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). Affiliated companies, and brands include Aquila Clean Energy (EMEA and APAC), AQ Compute (data centre business), AQ Ampere (solar pv greenfield development) and Green Logistics. Aquila Capital and the Aquila Group are managed by Roman Rosslenbroich (

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

) and Dieter Rentsch ( CIO), Florian Becker ( COO), Christian Ohl ( CFO) and Michaela Maria Eder von Grafenstein. Rosslen-broich and Rentsch are both co-founders of the company. An

advisory board An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to the ...

of well-known industry experts supports the management; members are Hans Joachim Schellnhuber and Klaus Naumann, for example.

Business activities

Aquila Capital has invested over €3 billion in solar assets and more than €2 billion in wind assets. The combined Aquila Group energy plants together provide a power capacity of currently 14.6 gigawatts. The current operative portfolio avoids around 1.2 million tonnes of

greenhouse gases Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...

annually, which equals to the emissions of approximately 70,000 European households. Aquila Capital is initiator of AQ Acentor, a Spanish residential real estate company. In 2022 Aquila Capital announced a partnership with Australian-owned company FNSF Ltd to build a 1GW pipeline of utility-scale solar plants across New Zealand. Several of the plants forming the pipeline attracted opposition from local and environmental groups, and national media in New Zealand reported on the fraught business history of FNSF Ltd's directors, including complaints relating to a previous solar company and a formal warning from the New Zealand Commerce Commission.

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.aquila-capital.de Companies based in Hamburg Companies established in 2001 Financial services companies of Germany Alternative investment management companies