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Greentech Capital Advisors senior adviser R. Andrew de Pass<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
We recently spoke to R. Andrew de Pass, a senior adviser with Greentech Capital Advisors<\/a>, the first investment bank focused solely on the alternative energy and clean technology market. Before joining Greentech, de Pass spent 14 years at Citi, where starting in 2005, he headed the bank’s Sustainable Development Investments (SDI) unit. Given the increasing activity in the cleantech and energy sectors, this is an exciting time to be a green banker. After a tough 2009, investments, both public and private are coming back<\/a>, ensuring that cleantech companies will require a steady flow of advice, which is where de Pass and Greentech Capital step in.<\/em><\/p>\n Andrew de Pass:<\/strong> There is a fundamental need to change how we as a planet use energy, how we manage our water resources or how we manage our waste. The path we\u2019re on is not sustainable. These issues are driving investments by governments and the private sector supporting technologies that can provide solutions to energy-related problems. This heightened awareness of climate change has helped create a market that just a few years ago hardly existed. These days, cleantech investors are not backing solar or wind companies or sustainable technology companies just to be good corporate citizens. Medium to long-term, there are real opportunities to make money by investing in solutions that will have a part in resolving the environmental issues affecting us.<\/p>\n G.E.R.:<\/strong> You\u2019re not\u00a0your average environmentalist. How did you get started in the sector?<\/p>\n AdP:<\/strong> No, I am not.\u00a0 I started at Morgan Stanley as a mergers-and-acquisitions banker working on deals across various industries. In 2005 at Citi, where at the time I had been for about 9 years, I was asked to put together a business unit to invest in companies involved in renewable energy or sustainable development.\u00a0I was at first a little skeptical and said that I didn\u2019t want to do charity work! But then I looked into it, did some research and realized that there were lots of opportunities in a sector that at the time was still a few years away from the boom it\u2019s experiencing now. It became obvious that sustainable development and renewable energy was a potentially huge, largely untapped market. Over the next four years,\u00a0my team and I, using Citi\u2019s own capital, invested in a number of businesses that we felt offered solutions to the issues I mentioned earlier: global warming, declining water resources.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n G.E.R.:<\/strong> Did that thinking motivate the launch of Greentech Capital Advisors?<\/p>\n AdP:<\/strong> Yes, the issues have obviously not changed. I was asked by Jeff McDermott last spring to join the firm. At the time, because of the financial crisis, Citi had shut down SDI. Greentech launched as an advisory boutique investment bank, but all along our plan has been to become a one-stop shop, offering clients M&A and project finance advisory and private placement services. By next year, we\u2019re also planning to launch a private equity fund that would invest alongside our clients as a late-stage investor backing cleantech companies and companies across the whole green\/sustainable space.<\/p>\n G.E.R.:<\/strong> Is serving a single industry a sustainable model for Greentech Capital?<\/p>\n AdP:<\/strong> The model on Wall Street is shifting away from the large conglomerates in favor of\u00a0smaller,\u00a0tailor-made advice. Specific to Greentech Capital, we strive to become what Allen & Co. has been to the media industry, but for the green sector. We\u2019re entering a relatively new market that could potentially reach $6 trillion, which gives us plenty of room to grow.<\/p>\n G.E.R.:<\/strong> There have been a few notable M&A transactions over the past year, some you\u2019ve been involved in<\/a>. Is that trend set to continue over the coming year?<\/p>\n AdP:<\/strong> In 2010 and 2011, I expect to see more buyouts of small cleantech ventures by larger companies. Cleantech businesses are very capital intensive, and at a time when funding remains difficult to access, merging with a company with a larger balance sheet makes sense. In terms of government funding, and in particular the cash grants, I expect the Department of Energy and Congress to extend them past their 2010 deadlines.<\/p>\n
\nGreen Energy Reporter:<\/strong> Why invest in clean energy and sustainable industries?<\/p>\n