DRAGON’S Den tycoon Peter Jones pocketed £12million yesterday by selling two hi-tech firms to another of his investments.

Internet gadget shop eXpansys paid almost £50million for Data Select Network Solutions, who sell SIM cards to mobile phone companies and internet design business PJ Media. Both are controlled by the tycoon.

Jones becomes eXpansys’ deputy chairman and now has a 43 per cent stake in them.

He said: “I invested in the company last year because I saw potential to become a powerhouse.”

DRAGONS’ Den star Peter Jones pocketed around £12million yesterday by selling two hi-tech firms to one of his online ventures.

The deals left him with a 43% stake worth £40m in eXpansys, the internet gadget shop rivalling Dixons and Carphone Warehouse.

EXpansys paid almost £50m for Sim cards firm Data Select Network Solutions and internet design business PJ Media. Jones, right, becomes deputy chairman of eXpansys, which posted a 40% surge in half-year sales to £30m. He said: “I invested last year as I saw its potential as a powerhouse selling consumer technology products.”

Smartphone retailer eXpansys yesterday agreed to buy two companies controlled by its key shareholder Peter Jones, the BBC Dragon, for £38m in a cash and stock deal. The company said it would fund the acquisition of SIM cards distributor Data Select Network Solutions and online marketing services provider PJ Media by raising £30m through a placing of 535.7m shares at 5.6p each – a 58 per cent discount to its last closing price.

N Brown: The home shopping group, based in Manchester, whose brands include High & Mighty and Oxendales, said that group sales were up by 1.1 per cent in the 18 weeks to last Saturday, compared with a year ago, and were up by 0.1 per cent on a like-for-like basis. But it warned that trading had been subdued since the general election.NBrown added that it had increased its share in women’s clothing and footwear.

EXpansys: Peter Jones of Dragon’’s Den fame has signed up City veteran and Yell chairman Bob Wigley to act as non-executive chairman of eXpansys, the AIMlisted consumer electronics retailer which he controls, after selling two telecoms companies to the online retailer. Page 38

Marks & Spencer: The high street chain is facing the fresh threat of a shareholder rebellion as Pirc, the influential pension fund consultant, called for a veto of its pay report at the annual meeting next week. Page 38

You know him as yer man off the telly, but Peter Jones does do some other things, too. Yesterday the entrepreneur said “I’m in” to a venture involving higher stakes than a typical Dragons’ Den investment.

He rolled up his telecoms-related assets under the eXpansys brand, signing up Bob Wigley to head the enlarged company as non-executive chairman. It is an unexpected appearance by Mr Wigley, who was talked of as a potential ITV chairman and at present heads the Green Investment Bank Commission. The deal, which involves the reverse takeover of DSNS and PJ Media, two companies in which Mr Jones has a controlling stake, takes eXpansys into the mass market.

The entrepreneur will own 43 per cent of the company, which he hopes to turn into a business similar to Carphone Warehouse, but purely online. He will be helped by chief executive Anthony Catterson, previously managing director of, yes, Carphone Warehouse. Yet rumour has it that Mr Jones had to be convinced to blend all three companies. Only time will tell if he was right to be cautious.

Peter Jones, the telecoms entrepreneur, is to combine Expansys, the Aim-traded e-commerce site in which he is the largest shareholder, with two of his unlisted businesses to create an online retailer that aims to challenge Carphone Warehouse and Currys.

To strengthen its board, Expansys has brought in Bob Wigley, chairman of Yell and a former chairman of Merrill Lynch EMEA, as non-executive chairman. Mr Jones will be deputy chairman.

Expansys will pay £38m ($58m) in cash and shares for Data Select Network Solutions, which sells Sim cards for mobile phones, and PJ Media, which has designed websites for mobile operators such as Vodafone. Both companies count Mr Jones – who owns 75 per cent of Expansys – as a director.

The transaction – classed as a reverse takeover – will see Expansys pay £13.4m in cash for the two companies, raised through a £30m placing, with the remainder of the purchase price paid in shares.

Mr Wigley said Expansys had a strong technology platform and international distribution but lacked a public profile beyond early adopters and technology aficionados. “I think the two of us can bring a level of marketing intensity that it hasn’t seen,” he said.

“[Mr Jones] has controlled the company for the last few months. He has decided the right strategy is to put these businesses together. I agree with him that this is an exciting combination of businesses.”

Mr Jones first bought into Expansys in 2008, through another portfolio company, VPS. After a £2m placing in June last year, his holding increased to 75 per cent in January, when most other shareholders bailed out after years of what the company described as “mixed fortunes” and “unsuccessful acquisitions”.
Anthony Catterson, a former managing director at Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U, was appointed chief executive later that month.

Mr Catterson hailed the deal as a “transformational moment for Expansys”.
Mr Jones’s interest in the enlarged group will fall to 43 per cent, which advisers to Expansys said would create a larger free float to encourage institutions.
Expansys floated on Aim in 2007. In the year to April 30, revenue rose 8 per cent to £50.7m, with pre-tax losses narrowing 30 per cent to £2.7m.

The shares closed 4?p lower at 9p, above the proposed placing price of 5.6p a share.

Pooling the state’s low-carbon funding makes a lot of sense. But are there risks attached?

A commission of independent experts said today that it’s time to scrap the Government’s many and varied separate ‘green’ funds and quangos (including the high-profile Carbon Trust) and replace them with a Green Investment Bank, designed to funnel public and private funds towards low-carbon investment projects.

Putting all the existing funding into a single pot is a sensible move, both for financial as well as practical reasons. But is there a risk that some of the ’softer’ (but also important) aspects of the quangos’ work might fall by the wayside as a result?

The commission, chaired by ex-banker Bob Wrigley (though don’t let that put you off), suggests that radical action is required if the UK is to come up with the £550bn of low-carbon investment it apparently needs to meet its 2020 emissions targets – particularly given the pressure on the public finances and bank balance sheets, not to mention the ‘market failures’ that are currently undermining investment in what is essentially still quite risky technology.

The answer, it says, is a Green Investment Bank that would ‘create a productive partnership between government and the private sector’, Wrigley writes in today’s FT. For a start, it would roll up the various quangos and funds created in the last decade that are all essentially doing the same job, doubtless treading on each others toes and spending £185m of our money in the process.

So far so good – although on the face of it, a commission chaired by a former banker recommending the formation of, er, anew bank doesn’t sound all that radical.

The bank would also provide debt and equity investment in ‘climate change-related technologies and projects’, while also building public support with things like ‘Green ISAs’ for eco-savers (which it reckons could bring in an extra £2bn a year). Tapping the institutional market (particularly insurance companies) could bring in another £10bn, it suggests.

The current arrangements just have to be inefficient and subject to political meddling, so there’s a lot to like about this idea. But it’s not without drawbacks either. As the Government’s highest profile green body, the Carbon Trust has done much to help (particularly small) businesses reduce their bills and emissions.

Will the GIB – a financial institution, backed by private money, that will probably spend most of its time thinking about large-scale infrastructure projects – really want to get its hands dirty with this kind of thing? Will it put the same amount of effort into raising awareness of the issues and spreading best practice? Will it put some money put aside to invest in the really cutting-edge stuff that may not provide a return for years or even decades?

We’re not at all sure that it will – i-banks are not noted for their communications skills, after all, which is what a lot of this stuff amounts to. We’re all for greater efficiency, but it’s important not to throw the good out with the bad.

By Alexander Smith

Green bank: The UK needs to spend 1 trillion pounds to “decarbonise” its infrastructure. So says a new report from the Green Investment Bank Commission, set up by the Conservative Party before the election which brought it into power. A worthy notion, but the plan to raise 50 billion or so pounds a year looks ambitious. This idea is likely to fade in the bright light of power.

The UK is a leader in the rhetorical fight against manmade global warming. The 2006 Stern Review was Gore-like in its enthusiasm. But in practice, the country has done less than many of its European neighbours to promote renewable energy.

The GIB is a worthy idea. Gather together the money in the government’s existing quangos and programmes, add an independent board of directors and voila – seed capital and freedom from political and regulatory risk.

As for the non-government money, existing banks and other financial service providers might want to help, insurers could apparently buy some 10 billion pounds worth of “green bonds” annually to match annuities. And retail investors might invest another couple of billion in “green” savings. The proceeds from new taxes, the bank levy and who knows what else could also go green.

In a boom time, maybe. But the government is trying to cut a huge deficit. There will be intense competition for every penny it has or influences. The government already owns huge stakes in existing lenders – once deep in the red and maybe now solidly black. Green just looks like a banking colour too many.

And if the government can’t be persuaded to stump up much cash, the private sector will also hesitate. Low carbon could easily become carbon lite.

- Funding priorities: smart grid, offshore wind, efficiency
- Raised from corporate and retail investors, levies

LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) – Britain needs a green bank to meet its 2020 goals to slash carbon emissions and curb use of fossil fuels, a report commissioned by the Conservative Party said on Tuesday.

Britain is lagging European Union targets to cut carbon emissions and deploy renewable energy, and it also wants to upgrade its grid infrastructure and help roll out electric cars.

A “green bank” funded by new consumer levies; the sale of emissions permits to industry; and institutional and retail interest in new investment products will help plug the gap, according to the Green Investment Bank Commission.

“The scale of the investment required to meet UK climate change and renewable energy targets is unprecedented,” said the report, called “Unlocking investment to deliver Britain’s low carbon future”.

The report is an independent, not a government, study that was commissioned by the Conservative Party when they were in opposition. They are now the larger party in a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats.

“Low carbon investment is a vital part of our economic recovery, and the Green Investment Bank is part of ensuring that UK PLC (business) can lead the world,” said Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker, responding to the report.

“Detailed proposals on the creation of a UK Green Investment Bank will be brought forward following the Spending Review (on October 20),” he added.

The bank could take control of existing government grants and loans, such as those currently managed by the Carbon Trust, raise up to 10 billion pounds ($15.1 billion) a year in cash by issuing green bonds, the report suggested.

It also could offer tax-free products to retail investors, which would pay a yield based on returns from investments such as in wind farms, which could be underwritten by government cash or assets.

CRISIS

The Commission, chaired by Bob Wigley, chairman of Yell Group, cited estimates that Britain may need up to 550 billion pounds ($828.5 billion) in investment through 2020 to fund a low-carbon shift.

Global investment in clean energy was about $150 billion last year, analysts estimate.

All investment is struggling after a financial crisis weakened utilities, following a dip in electricity demand, while some business lobbies are cautioning against tougher green support policies in the aftermath of recession.

Tuesday’s report suggested that initial funding priorities include proven and large-scale technologies such as energy efficiency, offshore wind and smart grid infrastructure, which would unlock wider technologies.

The bank’s initial capitalisation could come from a banking levy or the sale of UK carbon emissions permits under the EU emissions trading scheme, which would raise about 40 billion pounds for the UK from 2012-2020.

The bank could also raise cash through a levy on consumer fuel bills, the authors proposed.

Britain is far behind its target, under a European Union commitment, to obtain 15 percent of all its energy from renewable sources by 2020, compared with 3 percent in 2009.

The country has set itself a target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 34 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, compared with a 19 percent cut by 2008..

Bob Wigley, former European chairman at Merrill Lynch, has warned that Britain is facing £1 trillion (?1.23 trillion) of infrastructure expenditure to meet ambitious targets to cut its carbon dioxide emissions and says £265bn in bond issues are needed over the next five years to start paying for it.

The UK carbon challenge

The chart shows the extent to which the UK is lagging the rest of Europe, where the Nordic region and Portugal have led the way in developing wind, wave and solar power.

In a report commissioned by the UK Government, Wigley demands the prompt establishment of a commercially-independent green investment bank, pulling together and rationalising other state initiatives, within six months. These comprise nine bodies and funds including the Carbon Trust, Technology Strategy Board and Ofgem Low Carbon Network Fund.

Wigley suggests the appointment of a non-executive chairman to the green bank as early as this August. He said existing banks could become its equity owners, possibly by putting to work the £2bn raised by the 2009 bonus tax. Broader funding could be mainly tackled by the issue of green investment bonds to institutions, to fund projects or broader initiatives, he argues.

To raise sufficient money, institutions need to allocate 5.3% of their annual bond purchases over the next five years. “This is clearly an ambitious target,” Wigley admits.

If these targets end up being met, an extraordinary 26.5%, or £265m, of institutional bond allocations would need to be green by 2015, or 8.8% of total assets. Wigley suggests a mixture of high yield and AAA bonds, agreeing that the “green” tag would not guarantee the success of an issue.

Wigley also suggests the green investment bank could sponsor tax efficient individual savings accounts and exchange-traded funds for the retail market although this would require access to investment talent. Alternatively there could be an energy levy.

He justifies the haste by pointing to the challenge faced by the UK: “Meeting energy policy commitments alone will required over £200m between now and 2020. In contrast, only £11bn was invested in Britain’s dash for gas during the 1990s which was considered transformational at the time.”