Reading: Osborne Clarke advises $18m investment

Osborne Clarke's (OC) Reading-based venture capital team has advised leading cleantech company Nujira on an $18 million investment from a consortium of investors led by BankInvest. The investment round will enable the commercialisation of Nujira's revolutionary Coolteq products.

Recognised as one of Europe's top 10 cleantech companies*, Nujira's Coolteq technology cuts power consumption by telecoms companies (in energy-hungry digital broadcasting equipment, mobile phones and masts) by up to 40%. The latest funding round will allow Nujira to speed up the development of its Coolteq™ product, which is set to be launched in 2009.

The Series C funding was led by BankInvest Group, New Energy Solutions Fund, and included further investments from existing investors: Amadeus Capital Partners, 3i, Cambridge Capital and Cambridge Angels.

OC advised investors during Nujira's previous two funding rounds, building a detailed knowledge of the company which has proved invaluable on the current round. OC was involved with the deal from the outset, controlling the drafting and negotiation of all legal documents.

Robert Wood, senior corporate associate who led the OC team, said:

"Nujira is an innovative company with a very exciting future. We have been involved with the company for a few years now and were delighted when we were asked to advise on the latest funding round.

"The transaction was particularly important for Nujira as it will enable the company to develop their next Coolteq™ product for the handset market."

Commenting on OC's performance on the transaction, Bernard Morgan, CFO at Nujira said: "The Osborne Clarke team was terrific. They did a great job driving the transaction forward and were responsive throughout. As a consequence we were always on the front foot and the overall process was smooth from start to finish."

OC's venture capital team regularly advises on all aspects of venture capital (including funding rounds, IPOs and trade exits). The firm receives a number 1 ranking for UK private equity work from both Legal 500 and Chambers. Legal 500 describes the team as "pragmatic, commercial and cost-effective."

The team was involved in recent funding rounds for three of the companies named in the top 10 of the Guardian Library House 2008 CleanTech 100 - a list of the hottest private cleantech companies in Europe that are most likely to change the world. The list was published in the Guardian newspaper in September.