The General Meeting of Shareholders of Columbus Energy has approved the sale of a structured part of the company’s business (ZCP), including stakes in all 116 photovoltaic and energy storage subsidiaries. This strategic move is expected to completely eliminate the company’s external debt, which has been weighing on its balance sheet and financial performance. The transaction involves assets valued at approximately PLN 700 million and liabilities of around PLN 610 million. As a result, Columbus will generate a profit of about PLN 90 million and fully pay off its debt.
This decision will enable the company to restore its full capacity to finance its core business and attract new external capital—crucial for advancing the government-supported “Clean Air” subsidy program.
“The ‘Clean Air’ grant system cannot gain momentum – both in processing submitted applications (Columbus has filed over 5,000 applications and has at least as many waiting to be submitted), in paying advances, and in settling completed investments with WFOŚ – which are practically at a standstill. This is a necessary strategic move to both have the cake – profits from photovoltaic and energy storage investments will return to Columbus – and eat it too – by gaining new funding to execute thousands of customer contracts under the Clean Air program,” said Dawid Zieliński, CEO of Columbus Energy.
The shareholders’ approval paves the way for Columbus to relieve its balance sheet and unlock new funding potential. The transaction comes as a response to systemic inefficiencies and bottlenecks in the implementation of the “Clean Air” program that are affecting the entire renewable energy contractor market in Poland.
“Months-long delays and the systemic failure in processing grant decisions, failure of WFOŚ to sign agreements, and lack of fund disbursements from the ‘Clean Air’ program forced us to devise a new financing strategy for the Group. We are selling the investment business along with its related financing and leaving Columbus with an unburdened balance sheet—creating leverage for a system with blocked cash flows but a massive budget exceeding PLN 100 billion. This will unlock our investment balance sheet and better align us with the ‘Clean Air’ program. Thanks to this transaction, Columbus Energy will continue to lead the market in driving Poland’s energy transformation and reducing household emissions,” Zieliński added.
The deal involves the sale of the ZCP unit of Columbus Group, which comprises shares in all entities managing solar farms and energy storage projects, along with the full infrastructure needed to operate them. The buyer is Ruby01A sp. z o.o., a company owned by Gemstone ASI, which is wholly controlled by Dawid Zieliński.
According to the resolution passed by the General Meeting, the preliminary sales agreement is to be signed by the end of June 2025. It will include provisions allowing Columbus to participate in future profits from any resale of assets within the ZCP. Thus, any profits exceeding the value of the current transaction will flow back to Columbus Energy and its shareholders.
Source: CEO.com.pl
