FinLab AG — Environmental & Social Information 2007

Mar 7, 2007

News Details

Corporate | 7 March 2007 08:30

· Altira forms private equity division to focus on climate protection projects; Assets under management in this area to rise to some hundred million by the end of 2008

Altira AG / Miscellaneous/Miscellaneous

Release of a Corporate-announcement, transmitted by DGAP - a company of
EquityStory AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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Altira AG (ISIN: DE0001218063), one of Germanys fastest growing asset
management boutiques, has founded Climate Solutions Management GmbH. The
new subsidiary intends to assume a leading role in the private equity
segment for renewable energies, climate protection projects and related
investment areas within the next five years. Climate Solutions Management
also already has its first investment vehicle: ecolutions GmbH & Co. KGaA
(www.ecolutions.de).

Several seed investors invested € 17 million in ecolutions at the
beginning. Other fundraising activities targeting especially institutional
investors are scheduled to take place soon. Altira is planning to manage
assets of at least €75 millions in this segment by the end of the year, and
this figure is expected to rise to more than hundred millions by the end of
2008. The management believes that significantly larger volumes are
possible in the medium term. From 2008, the newly created subsidiary will
also make a significant contribution to Altira'e earnings. Investments in
this segment are largely uncorrelated to traditional equity and bond
investments and thereby enable Altira AG, which will receive indirect
remuneration through Climate Solutions Management GmbH in the form of fixed
fees and performance fees, to diversify and stabilise its income flows
further.

+++ About climate change
The United Nations' climate report published in early February presented
climate change as an undisputed fact for the first time. This has drastic
consequences. Even if no more greenhouse gases such as CO2 (carbon dioxide)
were released into the atmosphere from this day on, the climate would
continue to get warmer for centuries to come. One of the key triggers of
this climate change is the concentration of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere. CO2 is considered to be one of the most important greenhouse
gases. The rate of emissions has accelerated in recent years. According to
a study by the Energy Information Administration, while emissions rose by
an average of 0.8 percent per year from 1980 to 1999, they rose by an
annual average of 3.2 percent between 2000 and 2005.

Although most experts share the opinion that climate change is
fundamentally irreversible, a rapid reduction of greenhouse gas emissions –
particularly CO2 – can significantly lessen the consequences. At the same
time, new technologies can help people to deal with the changing
environmental conditions. Since the Kyoto Protocol was passed, trading in
emissions rights has therefore become a key instrument for reducing
environmentally harmful greenhouse gases. A central instrument in the Kyoto
Protocol is the clean development mechanism, which allows acquisitions of
emission reduction certificate for participation in climate protection
projects in emerging economies.

+++ Investment strategy of ecolutions
ecolutions therefore primarily invests in projects all over the world that
aim to reduce CO2 emissions or to absorb CO2. Under the Kyoto Protocol, the
operators of such projects receive so-called climate protection credits
(emission rights certificates), which can later be sold for profit on
European and other trading systems, though most sales are OTC to
institutional customers. Examples of projects include sealing waste
disposal sites, solar power facilities, biomass power stations and
biofuels, particularly in emerging and developing economies. At present,
clear double-digit returns are possible in this area. At other development
stages, ecolutions will the also invest in projects and companies that
either profit from changing climate conditions or that offer solutions for
the problems they create.

Peter Brumm, CEO of Altira AG said: 'The climate change that we have all
played a part in inducing will pose humanity with a great many challenges
and fundamentally change our world – economically, ecologically, (geo)
politically and sociologically. At the same time, however, the fight
against climate change, the complete reorganisation of energy provision it
entails and the complex effect on practically all areas of the economy
offer enormous opportunities – both financially and ethically/socially.'

His colleague on the Board of Management Christian Angermayer added: 'It is
in the nature of business person to seize change as an opportunity. In the
next 50 years, climate change will affect many areas of the economy – as
well as a huge number of humanity's customs, dogmas and paradigms. The old
will come to an end and a new system will be created, and we wish to play
an active role right on the front lines.'

+++ About ALTIRA
Altira is a diversified asset management group that operates in the
investment classes of private equity, public equity and real estate with
several independent subsidiaries. Altira sees itself as a growth platform
whose network, infrastructure, management expertise and capital resources
can be used by the various asset management models without them having to
give up their own identity. In return, Altira is broadly diversified across
various investment classes and customer groups and can thereby achieve
highly stable corporate revenues.

DGAP 07.03.2007

Language: English
Issuer: Altira AG
Grüneburgweg 18
60322 Frankfurt / Main Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)69 713 7588 - 12
Fax: +49 (0)69 713 7588 - 11
E-mail: info@altira-ag.de
www: www.altira-ag.de
ISIN: DE0001218063
WKN: 121806
Indices:
Listed: Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart; Entry
Standard in Frankfurt

End of News DGAP News-Service

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