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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 9 A U G U S T 7 , 2 0 1 7 Cianbro's solar farm gets green light from PUC e Maine Public Utilities Commission gave Cianbro the go-ahead to enter a long-term contract with Central Maine Power Co. for power generated at its 57-acre solar farm in Pittsfi eld. e Bangor Daily News reported that the $24.2 million solar farm, which is managed by Cianbro subsidiary Pittsfi eld Solar LLC, has been approved by environmental regulators and is expected to be connected to the grid and begin generating at half capacity by December. e newspaper reported that the solar farm will have a maximum gen- eration capacity of 9.9 megawatts and CMP will pay 8.45 cents per kilowatt- hour for that electricity over a 20-year 1-877-722-6243 | sbsavings.bank OUR BANK'S TIGHT-KNIT BECAUSE OUR IS TOO. Our focus is on you—our friends and families. We see how much you love it here and we do too. As the oldest bank in Maine, we've been here for over 190 years. And we'll be in it together for 190 more. You've just raised $223 million. Now what? B y L O R I V A L I G R A P o r t l a n d — Direct Vet Marketing shook the local venture capital scene recently when it raised $223 million, a record amount for a Maine-based company in at least two decades, and it has big plans for the infusion, includ- ing expanding into Europe and Asia by year's end and actively seeking smaller companies to acquire. The Portland company, which does business as Vets First Choice, raised $52.3 million in 2015. This time around, its co-lead investor, Hillhouse Capital Group, has extensive experience in China, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Investors were visiting Vets First Choice the entire week of July 24 to plan the Asian strategy. Hillhouse, founded by Chinese billionaire Zhang Lei, manages more than $20 billion. "This kind and level of investors demonstrate our company is doing well as an independent company," Benjamin Shaw, CEO and founder of Vets First Choice, told Mainebiz, when asked if his company was setting up for an initial public offering or to acquire related companies. "These are public investors who have expecta- tions for professional management so this looks like an IPO in a private company." Even with the large infusions, the investors still hold a minority position in the company, he said. While he wouldn't confi rm the public market is the direction he's headed, he said the company is looking at all options. Shaw is a 2015 Mainebiz Next award winner. "This capital is not a refl ection of the company's profi tability, but its spend- ing," he said. "The company already has the ability to be profi table and viable even with the signifi cant spending. But our own in-house profi tability wouldn't support the kind of expansion we're taking on right now." Vets First Choice is interested in acquisitions in Europe, Asia and the United States. "As we launch in Europe, we'll leverage some of the same eco- system par tners we have here in the United States, like Boehringer Ingelheim in Germany and Merial in France," Shaw says. Before entering the European and Asian markets, the company fi rst has to meet local regulations for the products it sells. Vets First Choice had 400 employees at the end of 2016, and aims to have 800 by the end of this year. There are 50 current openings, and Shaw has hired a human resources director and a recruiter. Revenue was $60.9 million in 2015, the last time the privately held company released numbers. He said subsequent revenue grew substantially, but would not reveal the exact number. He expects to double revenue in the current year. "Our biggest challenge is getting out ahead of all this activity. We won't have revenue from Europe and Asia until later this year," he said. B R I E F Vets First Choice CEO Benjamin Shaw, in his Portland offi ce. P H O T O / L O R I VA L I G R A C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N

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