Corporate Finance Associates Advises M.E Energy for raising Private Equity from Helix Investments

Corporate Finance Associates, an international investment banking services firm providing merger and acquisition, business valuation, capital resource and financial advisory services, announced that it was the exclusive financial advisor to M.E. Energy in its private equity fund raise from Helix Investments. U.S based private equity fund, Helix Investments has taken a significant minority stake in M.E Energy Pvt. Ltd., a Pune-based thermal engineering company.

M.E Energy provides energy efficiency and waste heat recovery solutions to a wide range of industries for process heating/cooling and secondary power generation with a 'concept-to-commissioning' approach. It also manufactures related products including hot air and hot water generators, heat exchangers, and pressure vessels. M.E Energy's expertise lies in developing unique solutions for generating cash savings for its diverse customer base, which includes Britannia, Deepak Fertilizers, Andhra Petrochemicals, Wartsila, VVF, Ford Motors, Linde Engineering etc.

The M.E Energy investment is the second in the industrial sector for Mauritius-based Helix Investments, which is sponsored by the Cullman and Bloomingdale families from the US. Helix has previously invested in Gujarat based Hi-Rel Electronics Pvt. Ltd.

M.E Energy is led by Managing Director, K. Vijay Kartha, a first generation entrepreneur and a veteran in the energy industry. "Waste heat utilization and energy efficiency is the need of the hour and demand for customized solutions to maximize returns will increase exponentially. We serve the needs of both new and existing industrial and power plants. There is a large potential market for our solutions and it is growing rapidly. By partnering with Helix, we will be able to expand our capacity and geographical presence enabling us to cater to a larger share of this growing market," said Kartha.

M.E Energy's strong client relationships and market positioning first caught Helix's notice. "There are very few players in this market with an established capability to offer a wide variety of customized solutions. We think the company is set to take advantage of the increasing demand for such solutions in India," said Sumit Tayal, Director of Helix Investments Advisors in Mumbai.

"With increasing cost of fuel, WHR solutions will become even more viable across industries thereby expanding the adoption rate and the market size significantly," said David Danziger, Director of Helix Investments Company. "We are enthusiastic to put more capital to work in M.E Energy, should it be needed."

"The management team at M.E. Energy was a pleasure to work with. It is personally satisfying to see two great companies team up, working toward a common goal," said Girish Narasimhan, Managing Director of CFA India, lead advisor in the transaction.

About Helix Investments

Helix is a $100mn private equity fund founded in 2007 and invests between $5-20 million per transaction. Past investments include Mahesh Tutorials, India's leading school tutoring company, and LearningMate, a leading provider of e-learning solutions engaged in content development, learning applications, and learning management systems. Helix had also invested in Calorie Care, a provider of customized, calorie-counted meals and OSi, a medical transcription services provider. Focus areas for Helix include consumer goods, business services including IT and ITeS, industrials and education. Helix typically acquires minority stakes but has also done management buyout deals involving majority stakes.

About Corporate Finance Associates

Celebrating more than 56 years of service, Corporate Finance Associates is a major investment banking firm, with over 20 offices across the United States and Canada, 3 in India and 17 partner offices in Brazil, China and throughout Europe providing middle-market companies with a wide range of financial advisory services and access to capital resources. From project inception to completion a senior principal guides clients through every challenge, advocates on their behalf, and leverages CFA's experience and extensive resources. More information is available via the Internet at www.cfaw.com.