By Andy Sevilla

A Germany-based energy company, that acquired Xtreme Power in a bankruptcy auction in April, is cementing its North American hold in Kyle. 

“The Xtreme Power asset acquisition and joining of forces establishes Younicos firmly in North America, one of the highest potential growth markets for large scale energy storage applications,” said the Berlin-based company’s CEO, James P. McDougall, in a statement.

Younicos Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Younicos AG, which designs, develops, produces and deploys power supply systems, acquired Xtreme Power for more than $10 million in a Chapter 11 auction in April, according to a company statement.

Younicos acquired Xtreme Power’s relevant strategic assets with the purchase and will also retain employees of the Kyle company, the statement said.

“This is a historic and strategic moment for Younicos onboarding a great and talented team, acquiring important assets, know-how and customer relationships that are complementary to our current product and services offering,” McDougall said. 

In January, Xtreme Power filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas. In February, the integrated power management systems and energy storage solutions company won bankruptcy court approval. 

According to its bankruptcy filing, Xtreme Power had $10 million in debts and only $34,000 in cash on-hand. 

Horizon Technology Finance Corporation provided debtor-in-possession financing and served as the stalking horse at the March 20 auction with a $10 million bid. The finance corporation pledged not to compete with firms bidding higher than $10 million. 

Xtreme Power joins Younicos with industry leading experience in designing, implementing and servicing over 78 MW of energy storage installations for a wide range of applications, according to a company statement. 

“We look forward to integrating the two teams under the Younicos flag and in doing so becoming the work leader in large scale energy storage solutions,” McDougall said. 

The acquisition and combination of teams positions Younicos as a global provider for megawatt-scale energy storage solutions. Younicos is presently building Europe’s first stand-alone commercial battery park in Schwerin, Germany; and is providing the software for Europe’s biggest commercial energy storage trial in Leighton Buzzard, UK, the statement said. 

Xtreme Power was founded in 2004 and it designs, engineers, installs and monitors integrated energy storage systems for power generators, grid operators and commercial and industrial end users, among others, according to its website. 

At its pinnacle, the company employed 285 people in Kyle and Austin, though recently company officials said the firm only had 53 employees and additional layoffs were likely during the bankruptcy process. 

Among the creditors listed for the company are Arnel Investments, Spring Ventures in San Francisco, Horizon Batteries, which holds the licenses for Xtreme Power’s batteries, and the U.S. Department of Energy, which gave the company a grant totaling upwards of $370,000 from the 1603 cash grant program.

Xtreme Power also received a $2 million grant from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund in 2007.