UAE swoops on green energy firm backed by Labour donor Dale Vince

A suitor with links to the United Arab Emirates royalty has swooped on a green energy firm backed by Labour donor. 

As a result, shares in Good Energy – backed by Dale Vince – soared 19.7pc, or 58p, to 353p, valuing it at around £66m. 

Dubai-based energy technology firm Esyasoft’s undisclosed offer would lead to a big payday for backers, including multi-millionaire Vince and the Edwards family behind the country’s first commercial wind farm. 

Also in line for a healthy windfall is Good Energy founder Juliet Davenport, who set it up in 1999 to make it one of the UK’s first suppliers of 100pc renewable power. 

It now has 275,000 customers. The board is assessing the unsolicited proposal and will update investors ‘as and when appropriate’. 

Its suitor has until 5pm on November 25 to walk away or make a bid. Esyasoft is linked to the Abu Dhabi ruling dynasty. 

 Its controlling investor, the Abu Dhabi International Holding Company, is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the royal son of the UAE’s founder, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. 

Vince, 63, is the largest shareholder in Good Energy through his company Ecotricity which holds a 26.5pc stake. 

Dubbed ‘Britain’s richest hippie’ with a fortune of around £100m, he has donated to Labour as well as eco zealots Just Stop Oil. 

He tried to buy Good Energy in 2021 but was rebuffed. Vince this week told fellow wealthy people who threaten to leave the country because of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s tax rises to ‘f*** off’. 

The Edwards family own 8.4pc of Good Energy. Dubbed the ‘grandfather of the UK wind industry’, Peter Edwards and wife Pip built the UK’s first commercial wind farm in 1991.

DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS

AJ Bell

AJ Bell

Easy investing and ready-made portfolios

Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown

Free fund dealing and investment ideas

interactive investor

interactive investor

Flat-fee investing from £4.99 per month

Saxo

Saxo

Get £200 back in trading fees

Trading 212

Trading 212

Free dealing and no account fee

Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.

Compare the best investing account for you