Agrivert Ltd., a U.K.-based provider of waste-recycling facilities, secured 96 million pounds ($150 million) in refinancing to help complete two power plants that will turn waste into electricity.
Of that amount, the company raised 63 million pounds of debt from GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd., it said Friday in an e-mailed statement. The 17-year, fixed-rate loan replaces more costly short-term debt. Existing shareholders have re- invested the remainder as part of the deal, allowing Alcuin Capital Partners LLP, Agrivert’s private equity backer, to exit fully.
“This financing has simplified and reduced the cost of our borrowing as well as provided the funding to support a significant growth of our business,” said Alexander Madden, chief executive officer of Agrivert.
Agrivert will use the money to complete two 3-megawatt anaerobic digestion plants that break down organic material, in this case food waste, in the absence of oxygen to produce a biogas that can generate power. The facilities in Hertfordshire and south Wales are expected to start working in the middle of next year.
U.K. businesses are increasingly funneling food to anaerobic digestion plants to avoid rising taxes for burying waste underground.
©2015 Bloomberg News
Lead image: Composting pile of fruits and vegetable scraps Credit: Shutterstock.
