CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 1, 2000--SatCon Technology Corporation(R) (Nasdaq NM:SATC), a leader in power and energy management products targeted at the distributed power market, today announced that its Beacon Power Corporation affiliate has closed a $28.5 million private placement of Beacon Power's Class F preferred stock with GE Capital, Mechanical Technology Incorporated (Nasdaq:MKTY), DQE Enterprises, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of DQE, Inc. (NYSE:DQE), The Beacon Group Energy Investment Fund II, L.P., Penske Corporation, Micro-Generation Technology Fund (Arete Corporation) and Perseus Capital, L.L.C. GE Capital, Mechanical Technology and Perseus Capital each invested $6.0 million. The Beacon Group invested $4.5 million and DQE Enterprises, Penske and Micro-Generation Fund each invested $2.0 million. Beacon Power plans to utilize the proceeds from the private placement to complete the commercialization of its flywheel energy storage system and to begin establishing production capability.
"We are excited about this significant investment," said David Eisenhaure, SatCon's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We believe that the support of Beacon Power's investors validates our vision that flywheel energy storage systems can be an environmentally friendly alternative to batteries. We are also pleased to note that DQE Enterprises, Micro-Generation Technology Fund and Perseus Capital were already strategic investors in Beacon Power, and that DQE Enterprises and Mechanical Technology are also strategic investors in SatCon. We are excited that these companies have been joined by such an impressive list of investors such as The Beacon Group and Penske Corporation. We are also pleased that General Electric has elected to invest in Beacon Power and that GE and Beacon Power have an agreement that GE Corporate Research and Development will perform co-development activities aimed at flywheel commercialization and production. SatCon owns 30% of the outstanding capital stock of Beacon Power on a common equivalent basis after this financing. As Beacon Power's largest shareholder, we believe that this investment has strengthened Beacon Power and we view this investment as increasing Beacon Power's overall valuation."
"Beacon Power's Flywheel Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) System is initially targeted at the telecommunications, cable television and wireless communications industries," said Eisenhaure. "This represents a large annual market. Beacon Power continues to gather operating data from its field test units at Bell Atlantic and others, and is incorporating what it has learned into its production designs. It is also experiencing international interest in its products. In February, Beacon Power announced its first $1.5 million production order for 100 flywheel systems from TLER Associates, Ltd. in Mexico."
Jim |
