Solar panel firm Ohk makes fourth purchase after Melior deal

Ohk deals completed since 2023 Melior investment reach over €30m in value

Ohk Energy installs solar panels and heat pumps in homes and businesses. Photograph: iStock
Ohk Energy installs solar panels and heat pumps in homes and businesses. Photograph: iStock

Ohk Energy, the installer of solar panels and heat pumps in homes and businesses, has cemented its fourth acquisition since private equity firm Melior Equity Partners took a major stake in the business.

The company, formerly known as NRG Panel, said it has bought Crest Pro Power Pro-Ex Engineering, leading providers of renewable technology solutions to commercial and industrial customers. The firms have a common major shareholder and leader in Sligo-based businessman Brian Healy. Together, the two firms are known as CPP.

A spokeswoman for Ohk declined to comment on the value of the deal. However, it is understood that the total value all four deals Ohk has done since Melior invested in the company in late 2023 amounts to more than €30 million.

Melior currently has a 44 per cent equity stake in Ohk, according to Companies Registration Office (CRO) filings, having seen its stake diluted last year as the company acquired Galway-based JFW Renewables, whose founder Gearoid Whelan rolled an equity stake into the larger group and joined the leadership team.*

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Led by Mr Healy, CPP designs, builds and installs renewable energy solutions to allow commercial and industrial customers to take control of their own electricity supply by self-generating and storing energy using solar PV and energy storage systems.

“I am excited to integrate Crest Pro Power and ProEx Engineering into Ohk Energy, further solidifying our position as a leading renewable energy company in Ireland,” Mr Healy said.

Ohk chief executive Conor Foley noted that CPP has provided world-class renewable energy solutions to some of Ireland’s “most sophisticated FDI [foreign direct investment] and indigenous businesses”.

Founded in 2015 by Conal O’Reilly and Ollie Hughes, Ohk provides a range of services that allow residential and commercial customers to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and businesses, reducing costs and carbon emissions.

The co-founders each continue to hold about 11.3 per cent ordinary shares in the business, while a holding company owned by Mr Whelan has a 22.2 per cent interest.

Mr Foley, an experienced industry executive, joined the business as chief executive in late 2023. Melior senior adviser and chief executive of electrical goods group Glen Dimplex, Fergal Leamy, is the chairman of Ohk.

*An earlier version of this story reported stakes on the basis of entire share capital, which has been updated to reporting on equity stakes

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Joe Brennan

Joe Brennan

Joe Brennan is Markets Correspondent of The Irish Times