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Alternatives

CDPQ, Cathay Take 50% Stake in Taiwanese Wind Farm 

The deal amounts to a $2.7 billion transaction. 
By Sarah Min


The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and the private equity arm of Taiwanese asset management firm Cathay Securities Investment Trust (Cathay SITE) will take a 50% stake in what is expected to be the biggest offshore wind farm in Taiwan when completed. 

The Greater Changhua 1 Offshore Wind Farm will be constructed, operated, and maintained by Danish energy company Ørsted, which will maintain 50% ownership of the power system, CDPQ said Monday. The deal amounts to a $2.7 billion transaction. 

“This investment in Taiwan, which represents an attractive market for CDPQ, allows us to further diversify our presence in Asia,” Emmanuel Jaclot, CDPQ executive vice president and head of infrastructure, said in a statement. 

“As an investor with vast experience in renewable energy, we seek this kind of greenfield opportunity to contribute to the transition towards a low–carbon economy,” he added. 

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The Changhua 1 wind farm will also be the first in a two-part project that will have 900 megawatts (MW) of capacity, or enough energy to power about 1 million Taiwanese households. Construction for both projects are expected to finish by 2022. 

Another set of wind power projects totaling 920MW, Changhua 2b and 4, will also be completed by Ørsted by 2025, pending a final investment decision the developer will take by 2023. 

The partnership between CDPQ, Cathay SITE, and Ørsted is the first of its kind in the Asian Pacific wind sector, according to the release. The multi-tranche investment package CDPQ and Cathay SITE have financed has been put together by 15 banks and two life insurance companies. Those include BNP Paribas, CTBC Bank, Cathay Life Insurance, Cathay United Bank, Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, E-SUN Bank, HSBC, Korea Development Bank, Taipei Fubon Bank, Taiwan Life Insurance, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Siemens Bank, Société Générale, Standard Chartered, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

The package was also supported by guarantees and loans from five export credit agencies, including the Atradius of the Netherlands, Eksport Kredit Fonden (EKF) of Denmark, Export Development Canada (EDC), Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (KSURE), and UK Export Finance (UKEF).

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Home > News > Regulation > CEO Charged in $119 Million Fraud Targeting South Asian Americans
Regulation

CEO Charged in $119 Million Fraud Targeting South Asian Americans

SEC alleges SiliconSage Builders CEO Sanjeev Acharya targeted community members in Ponzi scheme.
By Michael Katz


The SEC has charged a California-based real estate development company and its owner in connection with an alleged $119 million fraudulent offering that turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.

According to the SEC’s complaint, SiliconSage Builders LLC (aka Silicon Sage Builders) and its sole owner Sanjeev Acharya raised approximately $119.2 million from 250 retail investors, most of whom were part of Northern California’s South Asian community. Acharya allegedly lied to investors that the company was profitable and promised investment returns as a high as 23% per year.

“Acharya falsely described Silicon Sage Builders and all of its real estate projects as efficient, successful, and profitable when, in fact, from 2016 to 2019, all but one of his projects had significant cost overruns and did not generate enough revenue to cover the overruns,” said the complaint. 

Silicon Sage develops and manages large, multi-unit, multi-use real estate projects in cities in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company buys the land, obtains the permits, designs the buildings, acts as general contractor for the projects, and sells the properties. The company is comprised of several affiliated companies, all of which are owned and operated by Acharya and act as one enterprise, according to the SEC.

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Silicon Sage financed the real estate projects in part by selling promissory notes and membership interests in entities that loaned money to the projects to retail investors. The SEC said Acharya marketed these investments to South Asian friends and family, and then sought referrals among the Northern California South Asian community.

“As we allege in our complaint, wrongdoers sometimes prey on the trust of members of their communities to raise funds for their fraudulent schemes,” Alka Patel, associate regional director of the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office, said in a statement. “Affinity frauds are particularly harmful to retail investors.”

The SEC has accused Acharya of misleading investors into believing the payments they received were from Silicon Sage Builders’ profits when they really came from new investor funds—the hallmark of a Ponzi scheme. The complaint also alleges that Acharya misled investors as to how much money the company was trying to raise and falsely told them they could redeem their investments despite not having enough money to cover redemption requests.

The complaint, which was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, charges Silicon Sage Builders and Acharya with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. The SEC is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions, the appointment of a receiver over Silicon Sage Builders, asset freezes, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and financial penalties.

 

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