Landis+Gyr, the world's largest electricity metering company, today
announced the finalization of a US$100 million shareholder capital
raising to fund the company’s rapid growth in smart metering.
“Our existing shareholders’ active support of the company is a tribute
to the global potential of smart metering and Landis+Gyr’s unique
position to capitalize on that opportunity”, said Landis+Gyr CEO,
Cameron O’Reilly.
“Despite the global financial crisis, Landis+Gyr continues to grow and
our shareholders continue to invest in that growth. The substantial
growth we are currently experiencing in our U.S. business is
compensating for the challenging trading environment in Europe, and
allowing the company to have orders, sales and profits that are
exceeding expectations. Given our strong global leadership position and
the increasing commitment of governments, regulators and utilities
around the world to recognize the critical role that smart metering has
to play in driving energy efficiency and conservation, we are very
optimistic about the industry”, O’Reilly continued.
“In Europe, the EU recently announced its path-breaking Energy Package
including a Directive requiring at least 80% of homes to have a smart
meter by 2020 and 100% by 2022. Last week, the Obama Administration
approved US$3.4 billion in smart grid funding, most of which is going to
accelerate the roll-out of smart metering systems across the country.
Similar government and regulatory moves in Canada, Australia, and China
are increasingly making this a global opportunity.”
Landis+Gyr is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this global
opportunity. The company has won more than US$1 billion of new orders
around the world this year, including major contracts in Australia,
across the Nordics countries, and in the United States. The company
spends approximately US$90 million per year on research and development
to ensure that it has the broadest technology portfolio in the industry
and has recently released its latest generation in-home display,
targeting the rapidly growing market for in-home energy monitoring and
management. In addition to its smart metering wins, the company has also
had substantial success in South America and India with its new
anti-theft technologies which enable utilities to provide electricity to
areas that otherwise might go without.
One of Landis+Gyr’s largest customers, Oncor, the owner and operator of
the largest distribution and transmission system in Texas, recently
announced an important milestone had been achieved in L+G’s US$300
million contract to provide an end-to-end smart metering solution. More
than 400,000 smart meters have now been deployed across the Dallas metro
area and Oncor anticipates nearly 700,000 advanced meters will be in
place by year-end, making the deployment one of the largest and most
quickly installed in the US.
In further steps towards Smart Grid development, the company has this
year also announced leadership partnerships with SAP, Cisco, and
Microsoft to accelerate the delivery of standards-based solutions for
the energy industry and facilitate the integration of existing
capabilities with renewable power sources, home automation, plug-in
hybrid electrical vehicles (PHEV) and distribution automation
functionality. The deployment of smart metering and the consequent
empowerment of consumers to actively participate in the energy market is
the first step towards the creation of a ‘Smart Grid’, an electricity
network that can intelligently integrate the actions of all users
connected to it - generators, consumers and those that do both — in
order to efficiently deliver sustainable, economic and secure
electricity supplies.
About Landis+Gyr
Landis+Gyr is the leading provider of integrated energy management
solutions tailored to energy company needs. With a global presence and a
reputation for quality and innovation, Landis+Gyr is unique in its
ability to deliver true end-to-end advanced metering solutions. Today,
the Company offers the broadest portfolio of products and services in
the electricity metering industry, and is paving the way for the next
generation of smart grid. With annualized sales of more than US$1.25
billion, Landis+Gyr operates in more than 30 countries across five
continents, and employs over 5,000 people with the sole mission of