TICA Group completes Sebigas acquisition

Sebigas, a leading provider in the biogas sector and one of the main suppliers of biogas plants, officially joins the TICA Group, an international corporation with a turnover of US$900 million (2019), about 3 000 employees, 10 production plants in the world, and 70 branch offices.

In 2019, TICA Group acquired the Italian Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) designer and supplier Exergy S.p.A from Maccaferri Industrial Group and it June this year, it was awarded the winning bid for the sister company Sebigas from Maccaferri Industrial Group.

The completion of the acquisition of Sebigas by the international TICA group represents an important recognition of the technological value of an Italian brand that has developed over the years in national and international markets. In particular, it conveys a tangible trust in a team that is highly trained and eager to face the new global and competitive challenges of the biogas and biomethane market with the right tools, said Roberto Salmaso, General Manager Sebigas.

Strategic green technology investments

Both transactions by TICA Group are in partnership with Hong-Kong based Nanjing Golden Eagle Group (Golden Eagle), a prominent Chinese investment holding company active in the retail business, the hospitality industry as well as real estate development with a total gross of sales proceeds of HK$18 billion.

Both companies are said the have a shared vision to “actively contributing to the transition of the world economies towards a sustainable and carbon-neutral future.”

The deal will enable Sebigas, which already has delivered 80 anaerobic digestion (AD) plants around the world with a total installed electrical capacity of close 100 MWe and a track record of over 8 600 hours of operation per year, to expand its reach further in international markets.

Apart from China where it is headquartered, TICA is also present in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Malaysia, Germany, and the United States. With the acquisitions of Exergi and Sebigas, the Group is present in Italy strengthening its presence in the renewable energy market.

Sebigas advantage

The aim of  TICA is to become a global leader in the supply of environmentally sustainable technologies in the HVAC, heat recovery sector, and renewable energy sectors.

According to Sebigas, a key feature that convinced TICA to make the investment was Sebigas’s capability to outrival competitors where the heterogeneity of biomass is an important consideration. This specific skill will allow Sebigas to tackle very different markets worldwide.

In addition, Sebigas boasts significant expertise in technologies and construction of integrated plants for the treatment and management of the organic fraction of waste for energy purposes.

By leveraging the synergies and different technical skills, the TICA group, with the Italian companies Exergy and Sebigas, will be able to present itself as a strong and very competitive operator in the global market and contribute with its own solutions to the production of sustainable energy based on the reuse of secondary materials and waste from industrial, agricultural and municipal fields. This is one of the increasingly urgent objectives shared by governments, the scientific community, and associations involved in the fight against climate change, said Roberto Salmaso.

Relaunching into bullish markets

Sebigas is rebooting with an ambitious 3 and 5-year strategic business plan to cope with the market dynamics. It will move towards a more balanced portfolio among the various sectors of application – from 80 percent agricultural, 10 percent industrial, and 10 percent waste to 40 percent agricultural, 30 percent industrial, and 30 percent waste.

The company points out that globally, investments in the renewable energy sector are over US$300 billion and Asia alone accounts for about 60 percent of global investments, far exceeding Europe and the Americas.

The energy and environmental issue are now at the centre of the economic development and political agendas and Asian countries continue to accelerate investments in research and innovation in the green energy sector.

While Sebigas already has subsidiaries in Brazil (Sebigas do Brazil), and Thailand (Sebigas UAC, a joint venture with UAC Global Public Company), the growth strategy also includes an interest in the acquisition or participation in strategic assets in the generation of biomethane from by-products and waste.

These areas are in strong growth in several key markets such as Asia, Europe and North America thanks to incentive policies. In addition, sustainable electricity generation is another area not least an important goal of the European Green New Deal.

We relaunch in the market with the awareness of having represented and still being a reliable point of reference for all stakeholders of the industrial and agricultural sectors and thanks to this acquisition Sebigas is back among the main players in the sector, said Roberto Salmaso.

Expand and standardize

An industrial plan aims to make Sebigas an important player in the circular economy, which will have more and more weight in the global economic development strategy.

This includes developing standardized solutions for important markets such as China and the United States (US) in the livestock farming and waste sectors and expand into the Far East market thanks to commercial synergies with TICA and Exergy International.

Sebigas will keep its headquarters in Italy in Olgiate Olona in the province of Varese, as well as its General Manager leading the team. The business development plan also requires expanding with additional staff not least in the field of biological processes, electrical engineering, automation and proposals.

The recruiting process, now underway, is anticipated to lead to a doubling of the current Sebigas workforce by the end of 2021.