Category: News

Waste Management Joins Rho Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures, BDR Capital and Cycle Capital as Investor in Enerkem

HOUSTON and MONTREAL
Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) and Enerkem Inc., today announced a strategic investment by Waste Management in Enerkem, as part of Enerkem’s new financing round.

The closing of this new round of financing which generated CDN $53.8 million comes from Enerkem’s existing institutional investors, Rho Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures and BDR Capital as well as from new investors, Waste Management and Cycle Capital. The new funds raised will be used to support Enerkem’s growth plan, including initiating the construction of its second waste-to-biofuels plant. Morgan Stanley acted as Enerkem’s agent.

Enerkem’s proprietary thermo-chemical technology helps convert waste materials into biofuels such as ethanol. Its technology is able to process diverse carbon-based feedstocks, including sorted municipal solid waste, construction and demolition wood, as well as agricultural and forest residues.

“We want to extract more value from the materials we manage than anyone else in our industry through new and emerging processing and conversion technologies,” said Tim Cesarek, managing director of Organic Growth at Waste Management. “Combining Waste Management’s industry leadership and expertise in the collection and management of a wide range of segmented waste streams with Enerkem’s leading clean technology solutions, we are broadening our portfolio of conversion technologies in the waste-to-biofuels market which is key to developing new, higher value added end markets for materials.”
“This financing round validates Enerkem’s business and advances our path towards leadership in the waste and advanced fuels markets,” said Vincent Chornet, President and Chief Executive Officer of Enerkem. “The financial and strategic support of these world-class investors, bringing together our existing investors with Waste Management and Cycle Capital, will accelerate the transformation of the waste-to-biofuels industry that Enerkem is marshalling.”

In December 2009, Enerkem was awarded US$50 million in funding by the U.S. Department of Energy for development of its planned Mississippi plant. Its commercial-scale demonstration facility in Westbury, Canada, which was completed in 2009, reached 1,000 hours of operation. The new funds raised will be used to support Enerkem’s growth plan, including construction of its second plant, in partnership with the City of Edmonton and Alberta Innovates.

The investment in Enerkem complements Waste Management’s comprehensive waste services in the areas of recycling, landfill, waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy. This investment will also help move Waste Management toward meeting three of its sustainability goals: doubling its renewable energy production and tripling the amount of recyclables processed by 2020, and investing in emerging technologies for managing waste.

About Enerkem
Enerkem is a leading waste-to-biofuels company. Its proprietary thermo-chemical technology converts residual materials, such as non-recyclable municipal solid waste, into clean transportation fuels, advanced chemicals and electricity. The company was founded in 2000 and currently operates two plants in Canada: a pilot facility in Sherbrooke and a commercial-scale plant in Westbury. It will soon start the construction of its waste-to-biofuels plant in Edmonton, Canada and is currently developing a similar project in Mississippi, for which it was awarded US$50 million in funding by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). www.enerkem.com

About Waste Management
Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Our subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. We are also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Our customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America. To learn more visit www.wm.com orwww.thinkgreen.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are information of a non-historical nature or which relate to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. In many cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” or “continue,” or the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors. The forward-looking statements made in this press release relate only to events as of the date of this release. We undertake no ongoing obligation to update these statements.

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For more information contact:
Enerkem
Media : Marie-Hélène Labrie 514.875.0284 x 231 [email protected]
Waste Management
Media: Wes Muir 713.328.7053
[email protected]

Cycle Capital Management (CCM) Inc. has raised $80 million in completing the first closing of Cycle Capital Fund I, L.P., an investment fund devoted to the clean technology and renewable-energy sector.

This threshold was reached thanks to the involvement of several partners, including the Government of Québec (through Investissement Québec), the Fonds de solidarité FTQ,  Fondaction, the Caisse de dépôt et de placement du Québec, Brookfield Renewable Power Inc., Cascades Inc., the Fonds d’action québécois pour le développement durable (FAQDD) and the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ).

Montréal-based CCM will continue to raise capital over the coming months.

“We are proud to have reached this first stage toward our goal, even in tough economic times,” says Andrée-Lise Méthot, founder and Senior Partner of Cycle Capital Management. “We are especially proud that this closing was conducted in partnership with the Québec government, major institutional investors and respected industrial groups such as Brookfield Renewable Power and Cascades.”

In addition to their financial commitments, Brookfield Renewable Energy and Cascades, as industrial partners of Cycle Capital Management, have agreed to provide technical support in validating technologies as well as business development support for companies that own clean technologies to help them move toward applications with huge potential markets. Richard Legault, President and Chief Executive Officer of Brookfield Renewable Power, says he is pleased to be associated with the Cycle Capital Fund, adding: “By supporting leaders in tomorrow’s clean technologies, we are helping meet future energy needs and spurring economic growth while promoting high-quality jobs and preserving our environment.”

Key manufacturing industries are at a turning point and must alter their production and consumption habits. Investments in innovative projects will play a major role in building companies of international scope that can thrive in a fast emerging technology market. “Providing financial support to these clean-technology companies will help them export their know-how and command a place among leaders in the carbon-free new economy,” says Alain Lemaire, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cascades.

Cycle Capital Management has already invested in six Québec companies and remains on the lookout for any investment opportunity on markets in Québec, Canada and the entire northeast of the continent.

Investing in clean technologies and renewable forms of energy

Cycle Capital Fund I, L.P.’s mission is to invest in companies that develop and market clean technologies and renewable-energy projects, helping cut greenhouse gases, optimize resources and reduce impacts throughout their entire life cycles.

Up to now, the Fund has invested more than $13 million in six companies, including:

SiXtron Advanced Materials Inc., based in Montréal, develops and markets an innovative process for placing thin silicon carbide (SiC) layers on various supports applied in the solar energy field.www.sixtron.com

Vaperma Inc., based in Saint-Romuald, designs, develops, produces and markets innovative gas separation solutions that can be used for fuel-grade ethanol production, natural gas production, biogas treatment and chemical compound dehydration. www.vaperma.com

About Cycle Capital Management
Cycle Capital Management (CCM) Inc. is a private fund manager that focuses its investments on companies developing and marketing clean technologies and renewable-energy projects that can benefit from opportunities created by the emergence of a low-carbon economy in North America.

About Brookfield Renewable Energy Inc.
Brookfield Renewable Power Inc., wholly owned by Brookfield Asset Management Inc., has more than 100 years of experience as an owner, operator and developer of hydroelectric power facilities. Its total portfolio includes more than 165 generating facilities with approximately 4,100 megawatts of capacity. It also has a significant hydroelectric and wind project pipeline. Brookfield Renewable Power’s operations are primarily located in North America and Brazil.

About Cascades Inc.
Founded in 1964, Cascades produces, converts and markets packaging and tissue products composed mainly of recycled fibres. Cascades employs close to 13,000 women and men working in more than 100 modern and flexible production units located in North America and Europe. Its management philosophy, its 45 years of experience in recycling and its continuing efforts in research and development are strengths that enable the company to create new products for its customers. Cascades shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CAS.

Source: Cycle Capital Management – www.www.cyclecapital.com
Information:  Isabelle Perras, 514 282-4630, [email protected]