Nick Furlong’s Pageant Investments family investment vehicle has built up a 3.2 per cent stake in Corre Energy, according to a stock exchange filing.
The disclosure followed an 86 per cent decline in the value of Dublin-listed Corre’s share price over the past 12 months and comes as the battery storage systems developer for renewable energy continues talks with third parties for investment.
Pageant was set up almost 20 years ago after the Irish businessman sold his DVD and video games business to DCC.
Mr Furlong has long been among the most active family office investment firms in the Republic, often taking sizeable stakes in small companies seen as being undervalued by analysts or as having high risk-reward profiles.
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Current holdings include 8.3 per cent of airline retail software company Datalex, in addition to 3 per cent owned directly by Mr Furlong; 3.3 per cent of titanium minerals miner Kenmare Resources; and 9.4 per cent of Donegal Investment Group (DIG), an agribusiness essentially in wind-down. Mr Furlong himself also owns a further 3.2 per cent of DIG.
Corre, which was down to just €1.08 million of cash at the end of last year, recently raised €2.76 million in a share sale to investors to tide it over as it continues talks with third parties interested in making a bigger investment in the business.
Its most advanced development is its Zuidwending (ZW1) project in the province of Groningen in the Netherlands. ZW1 will be capable of supplying up to 320MW of electricity to the grid for up to 3½ days and is due to come on stream around the end of 2026.
The company entered into a joint-venture agreement with a Dutch company, SemperPower, to develop the project.
The 50:50 joint venture will initially involve an investment of €7 million, with Corre’s share represented by capital already invested in the project to date. Financial close, a point at which all project and financing agreements have been signed, is targeted for late 2025.
Capital expenditure during construction and installation will be about €300 million.
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