Following a year of rapid financial turnaround, Conergy announces the key executives who will be leading the Company. The team will consist of Andrew de Pass as Chief Executive Officer, Alexander Gorski as Chief Operating Officer, Marc Lohoff as Chief Sales Officer and Christina Welsch as Chief Financial Officer. A year and a half since Conergy AG filed for insolvency in Germany, this leadership team has led Conergy to achieve nearly half a billion in revenue and operating profitability.
Since being acquired in late 2013, Conergy has transformed into one of the most bankable and fastest growing downstream solar companies in the world. In 2014, the company developed and installed over 300 MW of utility scale projects, bringing its total installed capacity to nearly 1 GW and placing it among the largest solar companies globally. This year, the company also deepened its partnership with European utility, RWE, to offer rooftop solar in Germany, and closed a major bank guarantee facility with Deutsche Bank.
Conergy’s success is largely due to its global competitive advantage, which allows the Company to allocate resources to the fastest growing markets across the world. Conergy has decades of experience providing top quality downstream services, solid shareholder backing, and a strong balance sheet. Conergy enters 2015 with a project pipeline of over 4 GW and aggressive goals to expand its businesses in solar development, finance, engineering, procurement & construction (EPC), and operations & maintenance (O&M). Conergy will continue its leadership in utility-scale solar and expand its business in the fast-growing rooftop segment across existing and new markets in its global footprint.
Andrew de Pass will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer from his prior position as Executive Chairman of the Conergy Board. At Kawa Capital Management, Andrew led the acquisition of Conergy in 2013 and took a hands-on approach to restructuring and strengthening the Company financially. In the last year, Andrew and the leadership team made significant changes to Conergy’s business model, refocusing the Company away from manufacturing towards its key strengths in downstream operations, most notably project development and PV asset ownership.
In addition, de Pass brought in high-profile equity co-investors, and prominent banks to provide required bank guarantee lines to support the core businesses. Andrew has over two decades of experience in private equity and renewable energy investing, having managed or invested over USD1.3 billion of capital in infrastructure assets and growth companies globally over the course of his career. Previously, Andrew worked in various senior positions at Greentech Capital Advisors, Citi Venture Capital International, where he founded and headed Citigroup’s Sustainable Development Investments (SDI) group, and Morgan Stanley.
“Since Kawa acquired Conergy in 2013, we’ve turned Conergy around from a loss making position to profitability, with nearly half abillion in revenue,” said Andrew de Pass. “I am convinced that we will continue to accelerate our growth this year and that we have the right team and experience to execute globally.”
Alexander Gorski, based in both Hamburg and Miami, will serve as Conergy’s Chief Operating Officer and will continue to have geographical responsibility for Europe and Africa. He will also add the Americas to his regional responsibilities. Prior to Conergy, Gorski spent 15 years in the semiconductor industry where he served as Corporate Vice President for Qimonda AG. Before this, he held several senior management roles at Infineon Technologies AG as well as Siemens Semiconductor Group.
Marc Lohoff, based in Singapore, will serve as Chief Sales Officer and will continue to be responsible for the Asia, Pacific and Middle East regions, including Japan and Australia. Marc has run these regions since 2009. Before joining Conergy, Marc held senior management roles at Qimonda AG, Infineon Technologies AG as well as Siemens Semiconductor Group. He has spent most of his career in Asia, leading manufacturing corporations, joint ventures and sales groups.
Dr. Christina Welsch, based in Hamburg, will take the role of Chief Financial Officer, from her prior role as Vice President Corporate Finance for Conergy. Christina joined Conergy in 2010 after nearly a decade of experience in finance and corporate performance related positions. Before Conergy, she worked as Project Manager in the restructuring and corporate finance unit of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.
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