SMC Capital China (SMC3) announced today that their Wuxi funds (joint ventures between SMC3 and Guolian Group), China Merchant Hidden Jade Fund, Dragonrise Capital, Delta Capital and others invested RMB210m in Jiangsu Sanhuan Holdings Inc. (“Sanhuan”), China’s leading clean battery manufacturing equipment producer. This round of financing will be used in growing business for its existing products, developing new products, and expanding into domestic and international markets.
"As part of China’s twelfth five-year plan (2011-2015), the Ministry of Environment Protection issued a Special Plan regarding Heavy Metal Pollution Control, identifying lead as the No.1 pollutant,” SMC3’s partner, Alexandre Xing, commented. “This creates immense pressure on battery manufacturers to cut down lead pollution during the production process, providing a great market opportunity for Sanhuan.” Mr. Xing is in charge of investment in energy saving and environmental protection industry at SMC3. Previously, Mr. Xing held various senior management positions within Veolia Environnement Group during many years, such as Senior Vice President in charge of business development of Veolia Environmental Services in Asia, CEO of Veolia Environmental Services in Taiwan. He also served as a Partner of China Clean Energy Capital, a private equity fund sponsored by the Asian Development Bank.
Sanhuan is a leading environmental protection battery equipment manufacturer and battery recycling solution provider in China. It holds more than 10 patents and its clientele includes over a hundred Chinese lead-acid battery producers. The company has great market potential – it helps battery manufacturers save cost, improve energy efficiency and reduce pollution, and in the process, helps the government address a serious environmental concern.
SMC3 is part of Hong Kong based Simon Murray Group (“SMG”), established in 1997 by Mr. Simon Murray, the former CEO of Hutchison Whampoa and Executive Chairman of Deutsche Bank Asia. SMC3 is SMG’s China private equity platform focused on growth stage enterprises. It is a long-term activist investor with a team equipped with financial expertise, deep industry domain knowledge, marketing and operations experience to benefit portfolio firms such as Sanhuan. Apart from the clean-tech and energy savings sector, SMC3 is open to invest in industries where its partners could bring their experience and value-added, such as consumer, healthcare, IT and advanced manufacturing.