Florida firm buys Green Energy TV of Youngstown

Staff report

youngstown

For the second time this year, downtown’s budding high-tech campus has drawn the attention — and dollars — of high-profile strategic investors.

Green Energy TV, an Internet television company based in the Youngstown Business Incubator, announced Wednesday that it has been acquired by a Florida-based private-equity firm in partnership with the company’s management.

The name of the firm and the terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The firm was selected largely because of its experience with businesses in the green-energy industry, Green Energy TV said in a press release. The company, one of the incubator’s 18 portfolio companies, collects and airs content related to renewable energy and green living.

“It was important for us to be acquired by the right investor that believes in green energy,” Green Energy TV president Craig Zamary said in the release. “Their success in taking businesses public, especially in the alternative-energy sector, was an important factor in the decision.”

The acquisition will provide Green Energy TV with resources and investment capital to enable growth, said Incubator chief executive Jim Cossler.

The company, has “tremendous potential,” Cossler said.

“It’s a really cool concept, and one that can make a lot of money,” he said. “And it can help save the planet, so who wouldn’t want to work with them?”

Despite the purchase, Green Energy TV plans to remain on the incubator campus, Cossler said. He would not disclose how many employees the company has here.

Green Energy TV is the second incubator portfolio company sold to a private-equity firm this year. Turning Technologies, the largest company on the downtown tech block, was sold to Brockway Moran & Partners, a Florida-based firm, in August. The terms of that agreement also were not disclosed.