FRANKFURT, Nov 12 (Reuters) - German carbon project
developer Ecolutions, which aims for a stock listing in
December, wants to invest the proceeds from its flotation in
carbon-cutting projects in China and India, it said.
"The funds we raise will go completely into our product
pipeline and into the development of climate protection
projects," Chief Executive Ralf Jungebloed told a news
conference in Frankfurt on Monday.
Ecolutions aims to raise up to 48 million euros ($70.05
million) by selling up to 10 million shares from a capital
increase for 4.10-4.80 euros each.
Ecolutions invests in renewable energy projects in China and
India, which generate carbon emission reduction certificates,
and sells these to emitters which must cover their production
under mandatory European Union carbon trading rules.
Under the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, companies in
rich countries can meet domestic emission goals by buying carbon
offsets from developing nations, where it is cheaper to achieve
such emission cuts.
The trade in carbon offsets is booming because regulators
are reducing the number of CO2 emission permits they hand out to
polluters to create incentives to avoid emissions.
Ecolutions' projects include biomass-to-power stations and
wind farms.
"The growth potential is enormous," Jungebloed said, adding
the company chose to focus on China and India because it was
cheaper to save a tonne of CO2 there than to do so in Europe.
Ecolutions so far has not set up a partner network but is in
the process of establishing first distribution channels, said
Dietram Oppelt, its chief investment officer.
Ecolutions is the first carbon project developer to list in
Germany. It competes with Britain's Camco International <CAO.L>,
Trading Emissions <TRE.L> and EcoSecurities <ECO.L>.
Ecolutions expects to raise the number of its projects to 51
in 2010 from 15 in 2008, it said in a presentation, aiming to
generate 2,678 certificates in 2010, up from 313 in 2008.
Ecolutions' subscription period starts on Nov. 27 and ends
on Nov. 29. The first day of trading is set for Dec. 6. It aims
for a listing in the open market segment of Frankfurt's Deutsche
Boerse <DB1Gn.DE>.
(Reporting by Eva Kuehnen, Editing by David Cowell)
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($1=.6852 EURO)
Keywords: ECOLUTIONS IPO/