Investcorp grabs majority stake in Chinese renewables components player: Bahrain-based alternative asset manager Investcorp has acquired a controlling stake in China’s renewable energy critical components manufacturer Shandong Jianuo Electronics, marking the asset manager’s “first control buyout in China,” according to a statement. No details on the size and value of the acquired stake or immediate changes to the Chinese company’s leadership were disclosed.

About Jianuo: Jianuo provides critical energy components used in EV power management, battery charging infrastructure, solar and wind power generation, and 5G base station infrastructure, the statement notes. The company is a manufacturing partner to several alternative energy solution providers globally, including providers in the US, Europe and Japan.

What they said: “This acquisition reflects our strategy of investing in innovative and growing mid-sized companies and offering investors high-quality alternative investment opportunities in future-focused industries that are key to the global energy transition efforts,” Investcorp Co-CEO Hazem Ben-Gacem said.

REMEMBER– China continues to dominate the clean energy supply chains with the necessary manufacturing capacity to meet global demand. Several countries are on a mission to build up critical supply chains for the energy transition to help meet their respective zero-emission targets in the coming decades as some in the West try to sidestep China.

We saw this coming: Investcorp’s first controlling buyout in the world’s largest economy comes months after it partnered with Hong Kong-based private equity investment arm Fung Capital to set up a USD 500 mn fund to invest in mid-cap companies across China’s Greater Bay Area (GBA). The fund would mainly target control buyouts of profitable mid-cap enterprises across the GBA, which includes companies in the Guangdong province, Hong Kong, and Macau.