Infrastructure fund manager Ancala has acquired a 50% stake in German smart-meter specialist Hausheld.
Ancala is investing an undisclosed amount to become a shareholder alongside German investment company Deutsche Beteiligungs, which invested in 2020.
Ancala said its investment and support will provide Mönchengladbach-headquartered Hausheld with additional funding and expertise to expand and deliver on its secured pipeline of more than 200,000 smart-meter installations in Germany. Hausheld currently manages around 80,000 smart meters.
Tim Power, partner at Ancala, said: “We are looking to provide significant capital to the business and to apply our experience of scaling similar platforms in our existing portfolio to help Hausheld build on its leading position in the market, accelerating the digitalisation of Germany’s grid.”
This acquisition is Ancala’s second investment in the German smart-metering market, following its earlier investment this year in Solandeo. Ancala said it now holds the largest independent smart-metering portfolio in Germany.
Bouke Stoffelsma, CEO of Hausheld, said: ”Hausheld is committed to supporting the energy transition in Germany by providing industry-leading end-to-end smart-metering solutions to municipal utility companies. We are receiving orders from more and more municipal utilities for a full rollout of smart meters in their grids.
“The orders have recently become so large that we can no longer finance them in Germany alone. With Ancala, as a multi-billion euro infrastructure financier, we can now finance major smart-meter rollouts in Germany.”
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