Malta family office TIVEN buys VPP pioneer sonnen from Shell
What's the deal? TIVEN, a family office investment group based in Malta and Germany, has acquired 100% of sonnen, the residential battery storage and virtual power plant (VPP) maker, from Shell. Terms were not disclosed.
Why now? The purchase closes a sale process Shell began in 2023 as part of its portfolio high-grading strategy. Shell bought sonnen in 2019 after an initial €60 million investment the year before.
What's the endgame? TIVEN inherits a US business, sonnen USA, that has doubled sales and tripled production year-over-year. The company expects to deliver more than 180MWh of residential storage in 2026 and is expanding manufacturing in Stone Mountain, Georgia, to cut reliance on global supply chains.
Its US foothold runs through partnerships: a SOLRITE deal in Texas bundling rooftop solar, a sonnen battery, and VPP participation now covers over 6,000 homes, alongside programs in Massachusetts and Utah.
What TIVEN says: "The North American market for residential VPP solutions is significant, and we are pleased to enter it with sonnen, a true pioneer of the sector," the firm said. TIVEN is the private investment arm of entrepreneur Gert Purkert, a founding partner of alternative investor AURELIUSDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What could go wrong? The announcement presents expansion plans, not proof that national growth is secured. The key question is whether TIVEN can fund and scale sonnen's partnerships and US manufacturing — not simply the change in ownership.
The signal: The deal fits a broader push to aggregate home batteries into virtual power plants that serve utilities and large power users, a space where rivals including Sunrun, Tesla, and Renew HomeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → are also pressing in. For sonnen, the shift from an oil major to a family office tests whether patient private capital can turn a pioneer's foothold into scale.
Read more: Business Insider
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
