New Earth Group, a British waste treatment and renewable energy company, intends to raise a minimum of GBP15m in equity in exchange for a minority stake.
New Earth Group, a British waste treatment and renewable energy company, intends to raise a minimum of GBP15m in equity in exchange for a minority stake.
Incoming funds will be used to accelerate the growth of the waste treatment business and to develop power plants that recover renewable energy from waste. BDO Corporate Finance has been appointed adviser.
Bill Riddle, chairman of New Earth, says: ‘These funds will allow New Earth to accelerate the growth of its waste treatment plants and to be at the forefront of recovering renewable energy from waste via gasification or pyrolysis on a commercial scale in the UK.’
New Earth Group comprises the waste treatment company New Earth Solutions Group and the renewable energy company New Earth Energy.
It was established by Riddle in 2002 from waste management origins to help the UK meet its statutory and binding landfill diversion and recycling targets. The company has developed low-impact fully-enclosed facilities that use mechanical biological treatment and composting technology.
The group now has three operational waste treatment plants that provide 170,000 tonnes per annum of capacity, potentially increasing to 270,000 tpa. Two of the plants are profitable and the third is expected to become profitable during the current year.
New Earth is currently targeting waste treatment tender opportunities that could provide up to one million tpa of additional waste. It is also pursuing energy recovery projects with combined potential output of 100MW – the majority of these are at sites that are under New Earth’s control – be that owned, or under option to purchase.
The group intends to use the proceeds of its current fundraise to support the continued growth of the business by funding project development costs prior to reaching financial close. Project capital investment for New Earth’s three operational sites has been sourced entirely from the group’s own retail and institutional funds together with existing senior debt facilities. Going forward, the group anticipates that it will continue to use these funding sources and will also consider direct third party investment into projects.
In June 2009 New Earth Group and the Premier Group (Isle of Man) launched the Eclipse Fund, aimed at institutional investors. It is currently in an offer period and will commence trading in October 2009.
