BANGALORE, INDIA: Orb Energy (“Orb”) is happy to announce the appointment of Gerald Kok as its CFO (Chief Financial Officer) at this critical point in Orb’s growth.
Gerald brings to Orb tremendous experience as a senior finance executive at various companies in Shell. He worked as the CFO for Shell in Sri Lanka, expanding their LPG operations during the early 2000’s, and was the CFO for Shell’s LNG operations in Hazira in India (starting in 2005), and was their CFO in Turkey for a Shell joint venture involved in trading, marketing and sales of fuels and lubricants.
Subsequently, Gerald played a role in M&A of some of Shell’s larger European portfolio projects, and most recently was responsible for enterprise risk management for Shell corporation at The Hague, Netherlands.
As the CFO of Orb Energy operating from its head office in Bangalore, Gerald will be responsible for corporate planning, financial controls & reporting, risk management, treasury operations, audit and corporate governance. He will spend significant time on financing the growth of Orb’s rooftop solar business, building on the success in the fast-growing SME (Small and Medium-sized Enterprise) segment.
“As a vertically integrated solar company operating in India for over 12 years now, Orb has achieved a leadership position in the commercial and industrial rooftop solar segment with its unique value proposition for SMEs, including offering collateral-free solar loans that match their payback period. With Gerald joining us, I am extremely confident of consolidating our position further and continuing to delight our customers. I am happy to welcome Gerald to the Orb family and wish him great success.” said Damian Miller, Orb’s Chief Executive Officer.
Gerald commented:
“I am excited by the potential of rooftop solar in India. Rooftop solar has turned the corner and is now significantly cheaper than grid electricity for commercial and industrial users. Orb with its in-house manufacturing of high-quality solar panels coupled with in-house finance is uniquely positioned to enable commercial and industrial users to significantly reduce their electricity costs. I’m very happy to join this high energy team right now and work with them to become a major solar player across India and Africa”.
Gerald is a post graduate from the Rotterdam School of Economics in Netherlands and has a project finance degree from Cranfield University.
About Orb Energy
Orb Energy was founded in 2006, and since inception has sold more than 160,000 solar systems in India, with cumulative installations of more than 40MW of rooftop solar systems. Orb is head-quartered in Bangalore, where it has two factories: one producing solar photovoltaic panels and one producing solar water heating systems. Orb employs approximately 300 people in India. To learn more about Orb Energy’s products call 1-800-3010-1650 within India and +91 99005 20505 from abroad and visit us at www.orbenergy.com.
