Dive Brief:

• Energy storage developer Aquion Energy emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy under new ownership last week.

• Aquion was acquired at auction by Juline-Titans LLC for $9.16 million, well above the stalking horse bid of $2.8 million.

• The new owner says Aquion plans to resume operations this month and rapidly rebuild its operations.

Dive Insight:

Little is known about Aquion’s new owner, Juline-Titans, except that it is linked to China Titans Energy Technology Group of China. Juline-Titans has no web or social media presence. Calls to a media representative were not returned by press time.

China Titans’ LinkedIn page say the company was established in 1997 and is publicly traded on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The group lists its specialties as “gas/biomass/coal/waste power generation system, diesel/HFO power generation system, used power plant equipments, substation & other electric power equipments, and heat recovery power generation system.”

Aquion, which specialized in aqueous hybrid ion battery technology filed for bankruptcy court protection in March. “Despite our best efforts to fund the company and continue to fuel our growth, the Company has been unable to raise the growth capital needed to continue operating as a going concern,” CEO Scott Pearson said at the time.

Aquion had attracted $190 million in venture capital funding from investors that included Bill Gates and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The new owner will likely move out of Aquion’s factory in the Pittsburgh metro area, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.