The cleantech and renewable power sector on Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange has seen strong growth in 2009 in the face of challenging economic and financing conditions. With the listing of Ram Power, Corp. in October, TMX Group equity exchanges have now surpassed $1 billion in equity financing for this fast growing sector. The year-to-date 2009 amount exceeds the full-year 2008 financings by more than 100%.

“We have made significant efforts in the cleantech sector and it is gratifying to see that Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange have become the listing and financing destination of choice for large and small cleantech businesses,” said Ungad Chadda, Senior Vice President, Toronto Stock Exchange. “Our exchanges are number one in the world in mining and energy, and we are being viewed as the ideal financing markets for companies developing sustainable technologies and renewable power projects.”

Also up dramatically is the number of financings; there were 73 financings year-to-date September 2009 compared to 43 at the same point in 2008, representing a 70% increase. Today there are 123 cleantech listings on the two exchanges, compared to 102 at this time in 2008.

In addition to equity financing, 2009 has also been an active year for volume of shares traded for cleantech companies, demonstrating the strength of secondary market trading on Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange. Volume traded as at September 30, 2009 was up 21% compared to the same period in 2008.

On November 3, 2009, Toronto Stock Exchange held its third Cleantech Investor Day in Montreal, where leading public and private cleantech and renewable power companies met with members of the Canadian financial and investment community.  The Toronto Stock Exchange is carving a niche in the growing clean technology and renewable power sector, raising more than $1-billion through equity listings in the year to October and attracting a growing list of international companies.

Ram Power is one of 21 foreign cleantech companies to have listed on the TSX or TSX Venture Exchange. In the first nine months of 2009, the TSX and Venture Exchange completed 73 financings compared with 48 over the same period in 2008. The number of listed cleantech companies rose to 123 compared to 102 at the end of last year.

Ungad Chadda, senior vice president of the Toronto Stock Exchange said there were a lot more listings in the pipeline. He said the listing of Ram Power in October pushed the two exchanges above the $1 billion-mark in equity financing for the cleantech sector, a record which exceeded the value financed for full-year 2008 by 100%. The volume of cleantech shares traded on the two exchanges also increased this year, up 21% in the first nine months of the year compared with the same period in 2008.

“Our exchanges are number one in the world in mining and energy, and we are being viewed as the ideal financing markets for companies developing sustainable technologies and renewable power projects,” Mr. Chadda said. “We have made significant efforts in the cleantech sector and it is gratifying to see that Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange have become the listing and financing destination of choice for large and small cleantech businesses.”

He said the Toronto exchanges already had the highest number of listed cleantech companies in the world. The rise in cleantech financing on the TSX comes despite problems in global financial markets. However, those problems may have helped the TSX attract new companies. Investors in the U.S. were very risk averse when it came to geothermal power because of the risks involved in drilling.