Walsall company handles asset sale in Ripple Energy administration

The collapse of the energy co-op, with thousands of customers, attracted nationwide attention in March.

Chartered surveyors, valuers and auctioneers Kumar and Company acted as lead valuation agent in the administration, handling sales enquiries, issuing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and conducting negotiations with interested parties as well as dealing with the successful handover of assets.

As a result, the technology platform and assets of Ripple, which offers customers a chance to invest in large-scale clean energy projects in exchange for access to affordable green electricity, have been bought out of administration by 1st Energy, a renewables industry specialist.

The sale preserves services to customers and protects the investments of creditors of the co-operatives that invested in Ripple, but the existing staff at Ripple Energy have been made redundant.

Craig Povey, partner at Begbies Traynor, said: “We worked hard to make sure this accelerated sale did not disrupt the service to customers and are pleased that services can now resume.

“Under the ownership of 1st Energy the structure of this business has the potential to move forward and grow as UK consumers seek more renewable energy.”

Gary Christian, chief executive at 1st Energy, said: “Community ownership of renewable energy represents an important innovation that deserves to continue. Our acquisition safeguards customers across three co-operatives and will see their green energy supply maintained without interruption.

“Ripple developed truly groundbreaking technology that empowers consumers to participate directly in the renewable transition. We're committed to building upon this foundation while implementing a more sustainable operational model.”

The technology platform was a key element in the asset sale handled by Kumar and Company.

Rajiv Kumar, managing director of Kumar and Company, said: “Our involvement as sale agents on this case has been significant.

“We acted as lead valuation agent in the administration, handling sales enquiries, issuing NDAs and conducting negotiations with interested parties filtering them down to several key companies for further negotiations. We also agreed asset purchase agreement sale and dealt with the successful handover of assets.

“As lead valuation agent for the administrators’ office, we were dealing with all sales enquiries generated by Begbies Traynor and our own marketing efforts utilising adverts on IP-Bid.com

“It has involved a lot of work for us and the team at Begbies Traynor to achieve a successful sale in a comparatively short space of time. We are extremely pleased with the result.”