Menlo Electric, the fastest-growing photovoltaic distributor in EMEA, has secured financing from Poland’s largest corporate bank, Bank Pekao S.A. The funds raised, including an account loan and an overdraft facility, will be used to increase turnover in foreign markets.
PVTIME – Menlo Electric is set to exceed EUR 150 million in revenues this year. The company operates in more than 25 markets across Europe and the Middle East, supporting customers from 7 logistics centers in major transportation hubs. In September 2022, Menlo Electric opened another overseas office in the heart of Bucharest, Romania.
The company is one of the top 5 distributors of global leaders in module manufacturing: Risen Energy and Jinko Solar in Europe. Menlo is also an official distributor of JA Solar, Sungrow, SolarEdge, Growatt and FoxESS brands. Currently, more than 70% of the company’s sales come from markets outside of Poland, spanning from Spain to Estonia and from Norway to Lebanon. Next year, the company plans to significantly increase sales in markets outside of Europe, helped by Pekao financing.
The agreement with the Pekao Bank is part of Menlo Electric’s financing program, led by Marta Walendzewicz, the company’s CFO.
“The 2022 Growth Financing Program amounted to a total of EUR 20 million. Thanks to the agreement with Pekao Bank, we secured the whole amount before the end of September. The previous financing agreements under the program came from, among others, mBank (EUR 6 million) or KUKE and KUKE Finance (EUR 3 million),” explains Marta Walendzewicz.
Bank Pekao is one of the largest financial institutions in the region of Central and Eastern Europe, and the second-largest universal bank in Poland. The bank provides services to over 6.2 million clients, including every second corporation in Poland.
“We are pleased to be able to finance the development of companies that operate in the strategic and extremely fast-growing field of renewable energy. In line with the bank’s ESG strategy, we are committed to supporting clients in their transition to a low-carbon economy and sharing best practices for the benefit of the environment. We sign the agreement with Menlo Electric with all the more satisfaction, as we are enabling a company with Polish capital to enter foreign markets more firmly,” said Agnieszka Chruściel director of the Corporate Clients Department at Bank Pekao.
