Friel-backed green assets venture EGT raises over £6m on London AIM debut

The Cat hal Fri el-backed European Green Transition venture has made its stock market debut on London’s Alternative Investment Market, raising £6.4m (€7.5m) before expenses from institutional investors and family offices.

It has offered an additional £500,000 in shares to retail investors.

Mr Friel, the managing director of Raglan Capital, said European Green Transition (EGT) had intended to raise between £5m and £6m, but increased the target alongside strong interest for the flotation.

It’s the fifth flotation on the AIM that Mr Friel has undertaken.

EGT, headed by CEO Aiden Lavelle, intends to amass a portfolio of green economy assets in Europe. Oil executive Michael Nolan – who made a fortune when he sold stock market-listed exploration company Cove Energy to Shell in 2012 – is also behind the plans.

The venture has some existing assets, including a rare earth minerals exploration licence in Sweden known as the Olserum Rare Earth Element (REE) project.

“I’m very excited by the potential of EGT,” said Mr Friel yesterday. “With increased focus on the green transition, access to critical raw materials is paramount.

“Our Olserum Rare Earth Element project holds even greater significance, particularly in light of the recent final approval of the European Critical Raw Materials Act earlier this month,” he added. “This legislation underscores the importance of ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials within Europe.”

REEs are metallic elements used in technology including electric vehicles and wind turbines. EGT says Olserum has the potential to be Europe’s first commercial-stage rare earth mine.

EGT also has mineral rights in the German state of Saxony and says it has identified a pipeline of further potential assets. Initial plans to focus on metals and minerals needed to meet Europe’s target to transition to greener energy supplies and usage has been expanded to potentially take in a broader “green energy” assets.

Mr Friel previously pointed to the potential for distressed energy assets among others to be shaken out by investors who took on debt during the period of zero interest rates as a source of deal flow.

Mr Friel, a former stockbroker, is building up a following as a rare Irish enthusiast for raising equityvia the public markets for relatively early-stage businesses, especially following the €1.38bn sale last year of Amryt Pharma.

“With an experienced leadership team with a track record of building public companies and delivering significant returns for shareholders, we see substantial opportunities to generate value through our existing pipeline and our disciplined M&A focused approach,” said Mr Friel.