Sunseap raises S$100 million in Series D funding from Thailand's Banpu

SINGAPORE-BASED solar energy solutions provider Sunseap Group has raised a fresh S$100 million in Series D funding, it announced on Friday, with the funds going to regional expansion.

The latest injection from Thai-listed energy group Banpu Public Co takes the fund-raising round to S$203 million so far, a spokesman for Sunseap told The Business Times.

That comes in the wake of a recent investment of S$50 million - from private equity fund ABC World Asia and national investment firm Temasek Holdings - that was disclosed on Jan 29.

Banpu, which recently inked a deal to invest 1.14 billion yen (S$14.4 million) for a 19.9 per cent stake in Japanese power retailer Global Engineering Co in early February, has named senior vice-president of finance and strategy Banchob Kitchpanich to Sunseap's 10-member board.

Banpu had said on Feb 4 that it will work with Global Engineering "in South-east Asia for providing demand management solutions" amid a boom in renewable energy investments.

Now, Sunseap has found synergies between its business and Banpu's, said president Lawrence Wu, adding: "We welcome its representative to our board and look forward to having Banpu's valuable perspective as we deliberate strategic plans for the Sunseap group of companies."

Outside Singapore, home-grown Sunseap has solar farms in Vietnam and Cambodia, and a contracted pipeline in Thailand, on top of its footprint in other parts of the Asia-Pacific.