The $38 billion hedge fund multi-strategy specialist Davidson Kempner Capital Management has partnered with One33 in Italy to launch a dedicated energy transition infrastructure platform.
The platform, Thaleia, will focus on supporting national and European energy security and resilience. Marco Reggiani joins as CEO and general manager and brings 25 years’ experience in the energy and infrastructure sector. Most recently, he was chairman of Stogit, the largest Italian player in gas storage and chairman of Italgas, the country’s leading gas distribution operator.
Davidson Kempner and One33 have been working together on a specific investment strategy for Italy focused on special situations where One33 can provide sophisticated structuring technical solutions and intense operational activity contributing to develop important projects capable of playing a significant role in the transformation of industrial sectors.
Thaleia’s launch follows Davidson Kempner’s acquisition, with One33’s support, of the “Cugno le Macine Stoccaggio” natural gas storage concession in Basilicata. Thaleia aims to develop the full potential of the largest natural gas storage site in southern Italy.
“The European goal of becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 cannot be achieved through individual actions alone. It will require a structural effort involving the whole energy supply chain, in collaboration with the worlds of industry, agriculture, and infrastructure. The energy system is changing radically to achieve sustainability goals, and natural gas is playing a crucial role in enabling this, while delivering a response to global growing energy demands,” said Reggiani.
He added, “Moreover, the international geopolitical evolution clearly shows the need for increasing supply chain security and demonstrates how the availability of affordable energy is increasingly central to the long-term sustainability of the economic and production systems.”
Thaleia plans to build an energy and infrastructure platform on a European scale with a particular focus on the Mediterranean region. The growth strategy is grounded in an ambitious acquisition plan implemented in full collaboration with the governments and local communities in the countries where Thaleia will operate, officials said.
This approach has been successfully implemented by Davidson Kempner in the energy transition space before, most notably with Nature Energy, a Danish company that was previously owned by several municipalities and which has since become a world leader in biomethane production.
