Glentra Capital, a new energy transition investment firm backed by large Danish investors, announces first close of EUR 443 million

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK – September 14, 2023. With a total commitment of EUR 443 million (DKK 3.3 billion) from anchor investors Novo Holdings and PKA and several other investors, Glentra Capital (‘Glentra’) today announced the first close of its energy transition fund, Glentra Fund I. Based in Copenhagen and London, Glentra is a newly established investment firm with an ambition to accelerate the energy transition for a clean and sustainable future.

Energy transition is the most urgent and complex challenge society faces today. To meet the UN climate goals, investments in renewable energy need to increase substantially, and the way energy is produced, distributed and consumed worldwide must undergo rapid transformation. Glentra Fund I is positioned to leverage this opportunity and identify profitable investments that will benefit its investors and the planet.

Glentra Fund I will invest in and grow great companies that lead in the development and deployment of renewable energy such as offshore and onshore wind, solar, sustainable fuels, energy storage, electric mobility and other related sectors. With a commitment to promote environmental, social and governance (ESG) measures, the fund seeks to drive positive change while delivering attractive returns for its investors.

Glentra is headed by founding Partners Henrik Tordrup and Lars Villadsen, both of whom will be investing a significant amount of their own wealth into the fund. Henrik Tordrup has a background with Ørsted and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), where he had a leading role in establishing CIP’s global investment platform, and Lars Villadsen has a background with Vestas as part of the senior management team in North America. In addition, Glentra comprises a diverse team of investment and industry professionals with deep experience from the renewable energy and investment industries.

Henrik Tordrup, Managing Partner at Glentra, said: “We are thrilled to announce the first close of Glentra Fund I. This milestone represents a significant step forward in our mission to accelerate the transition towards a future based on sustainable energy sources while creating value for portfolio companies and investors. Only by creating value and attractive risk-adjusted returns are we truly able to accelerate the transformation that is needed. We are grateful for the trust and confidence in this vision that our investors have shown us, and we look forward to partnering with them to make a lasting impact on the energy landscape.”

Partner and co-founder at Glentra, Lars Villadsen, added: “Since our establishment, we have been busy building the team and engaging in conversations with interesting companies that share our vision and clearly see the value in partnering with Glentra by incorporating us in their ownership structure.”  

Novo Holdings and pension fund PKA are pleased to be part of Glentra’s journey and are aligned with Glentra’s vision.

Morten Beck Jørgensen, Managing Partner, Capital Investments, Novo Holdings, said: “We are proud to be a co-founder of Glentra, and a large anchor investor and limited partner in Glentra Fund I. At Novo Holdings, we firmly believe in the importance of investing to accelerate energy transition and promote sustainable development. By supporting Glentra and Glentra Fund I, we aim to drive positive change within the energy sector and contribute to a more sustainable future, which aligns with Novo Holdings’ purpose of improving people’s health and the sustainability of society and the planet by generating attractive long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.”

Michael Nellemann Pedersen, Chief Investment Officer at PKA, said: “PKA is determined to continuously play an active role in the global energy transition. We engage in investments that make an impact towards a future relying solely on renewable energy and simultaneously generate a high financial return for our members. Furthermore, PKA is very pleased to be an anchor investor and large limited partner in Glentra Fund I alongside like-minded and professional partners such as Novo Holdings that share our view on the necessity of investing in and contributing to a more sustainable world for generations to come.”

Investing in the global energy transition has evolved from asset-by-asset investments into a growth industry with underlying infrastructure characteristics that provides resilient and predictable revenues. Consequently, Glentra will leverage and scale the experience of the team to support companies operating within energy transition.

The first close of Glentra Fund I marks an important milestone that paves the way for further investments and partnerships within the energy transition space. Glentra Fund I has commitments of approximately 60% of the EUR 750 million target size and is actively engaging with additional investors and expects to hold subsequent closings in the coming months.

About Glentra Capital
Glentra Capital (‘Glentra’) was founded in 2022 by senior executives from the renewable energy and fund management industries, with the vision to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns while accelerating the global energy transition for a clean and sustainable future. Glentra will contribute to this vision by investing in and growing exceptional companies that deliver the energy infrastructure of tomorrow via investments in development platforms ranging from offshore wind to solar and sustainable fuels and in their supply chain companies as well as in energy optimisation and integration businesses. The geographical investment focus is on Europe and North America due to the fundamentally attractive energy transition environments.

Today, the company employs a total of 16 people across its two offices in Copenhagen and London. The mix of industry and investment experience among Glentra’s partners and team of employees secures a unique platform for growth and value creation for portfolio companies and investors. www.glentra.com.

About Novo Holdings A/S
Novo Holdings is a holding and investment company that is responsible for managing the assets and the wealth of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The purpose of Novo Holdings is to improve people’s health and the sustainability of society and the planet by generating attractive long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Novo Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S and manages an investment portfolio with a long-term return perspective. In addition to managing a broad portfolio of equities, bonds, real estate, infrastructure and private equity assets, Novo Holdings is a world-leading life sciences investor. Through its Seeds, Venture, Growth, and Principal Investments teams, Novo Holdings invests in life science companies at all stages of development. As of year-end 2022, Novo Holdings had total assets of EUR 108 billion. www.novoholdings.dk

About the Novo Nordisk Foundation
Established in Denmark in 1924, the Novo Nordisk Foundation is an enterprise foundation with philanthropic objectives. The vision of the Foundation is to improve people’s health and the sustainability of society and the planet. The Foundation’s mission is to progress research and innovation in the prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic and infectious diseases as well as to advance knowledge and solutions to support a green transformation of society.
www.novonordiskfonden.dk/en

About PKA
PKA is one of Denmark’s largest pension funds. We provide lifelong security to a community of over 355,000 members, primarily from the social work and healthcare sectors. The members are also our owners. On their behalf, we manage assets of DKK 400 billion (EUR 54 billion), which we invest, among other things, in solar, wind and global goals.

The transaction is structured and managed by Maj Invest Equity on behalf of PKA.
www.pka.dk