This Research Note reviews energy management acquisitions in the commercial smart buildings space over the last 12 months.

M&A in building energy efficiency, analytics, measurement and verification, energy optimization, sustainability and ESG solutions have been the predominant focus in the broad energy management sector.

10 Notable 2023 Energy Management Acquisitions

Planon / Ubigreen

In January 2023, Planon acquired a majority share in Ubigreen. Based in Toulouse, France, the startup, founded in 2012, aims to accelerate the energy transition of tertiary and public buildings through two complementary digital offerings: Ubigreen Energy & Ubigreen Workspace.

With this partnership, Planon adds strategic capabilities to its Energy Management software offering and reinforces its ecosystem of digital solutions for smart sustainable building management.

Dar Group / CopperTree

In March 2023, Dar Group acquired a majority stake in CopperTree, a Canadian-headquartered provider of building analytics solutions. Acquiring CopperTree is expected to enable Dar Group to grow its market share and provide a more integrated digital service offering across its core markets, including transportation, buildings, energy, water and industrials.

Pinergy / Acutrace

In March 2023, Pinergy, Ireland’s smart energy supply & sustainable solutions company announced that it had acquired Acutrace, Ireland’s leading energy & utilities measurement solutions provider. Founded in 2015, Acutrace is a Software & Systems Integration business primarily measuring the consumption of energy and other utilities in commercial premises across Ireland & UK.

The Acutrace Energy Measurement Platform allows users to pinpoint exactly where and when energy and other utilities are being used – and wasted – and helps them take corrective action to make significant savings.

DEAS Group / IQ Energy Nordic

In March 2023, Deas Group acquired IQ Energy Nordic to drive its digital transformation. The Copenhagen-based group will become the sole provider in the Nordics of Eniscope, a proptech-enabled energy data management system. The system enables property owners to monitor all energy consumption – heating, water, gas and electricity – within a building, allowing for the optimisation of individual assets.

Mysa / Zen Ecosystems

In May 2023, Mysa, the Canadian provider of smart thermostats for high-voltage electric heating and cooling, acquired the intellectual property of Zen Ecosystems, an Australian company founded in 2013.

This acquisition allows Mysa to expand into commercial energy management using Zen's platform, ZenHQ, a cloud-based service that helps small to medium-sized businesses monitor, analyze, and optimize their energy usage across multiple locations, and reduce their carbon footprint and energy costs.

Bernhard Capital / Optimum Energy

The acquisition and growth capital investment in Optimum Energy, was announced in June 2023 by Bernhard Capital. Founded in 2005, Seattle-based Optimum Energy’s HVAC optimization cloud-based software reduces a system’s energy usage and resulting costs by up to 50%.

The technology also reduces water use in chiller plants, tracks and reports on savings, provides detailed insights into building system operations, and efficiently scales across entire building portfolios.

Carel / Kiona

In July 2023, Carel, an Italian public company manufacturing control products for HVAC and refrigeration applications, acquired a 82.4% stake in Kiona Holding AS, for a consideration implying a 100% Enterprise Value of NOK 2.35 bn (c. €210m).

Kiona is a Norway-based Software as a Service provider of proptech solutions for energy consumption optimization and building digitalization in retail & industrial refrigeration, public, commercial and multi-residential facilities.

Tango / WatchWire

In August 2023, Tango, a US provider of cloud-based real estate and facilities management software, acquired WatchWire , a U.S. provider of an integrated energy management and sustainability platform, enabling companies to automate climate targets.

The transaction extends Tango’s position in the real estate and facilities management space, enabling companies to meet their energy management and sustainability goals.

Hager / Eficia

In July 2023, Hager Group, a German supplier of solutions and services for electrical installations in residential, commercial and industrial buildings, acquired a majority stake in Eficia that is intended to enable the group to reinforce its energy management offering delivering energy and CO2 savings to commercial segment customers, while exploring new business models. Founded in Paris in 2013, Eficia specialises in energy management via remote control services for commercial buildings.

Instome Capital / Encycle

In October 2023, Encycle Corporation, a data-driven provider of AI-enhanced Swarm Logic energy management solutions, was acquired by Instone Capital Partners, a family-owned investment firm providing the resources to accelerate growth and expansion of the company.

This article was written by Daphne Tomlinson, Senior Research Associate at Memoori.