Scottish Consortium Buys Biodiesel Producer
Argent Energy, the Motherwell-based biodiesel business, has attracted new private investment and is now owned by a consortium which includes Souter Investments, the private investment company of the Souter family; plus existing managers.
The business was bought for an undisclosed sum from a group of investors led by leading European buyout firm, Cinven Ltd. Cinven have been backers of Argent since its embryonic stages in 2001.
Argent Energy pioneered the large scale commercial production of biodiesel in the UK. The firm started production in 2005 and makes its environmentally-friendly transport fuel by recycling tallow and used cooking oil – both by products of other industries. They were voted “Sustainable Biodiesel Producer 2009” at the World Biofuels Markets Expo and Conference Awards.
Jim Walker, Argent Energy managing director, said: “Since we started production we have delivered over 170 million litres of biodiesel and our plant is currently running close to full capacity.
“We have built an innovative, successful business delivering a product which provides significant environmental benefit and for which there is strong demand.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to develop our business with the benefit of a strong local shareholder base.
“Our latest investment is in a new facility at our Motherwell plant to prepare tallow and used cooking oil for use in the biodiesel production process. This is nearing completion and will expand and improve our locally sourced raw material supply and create around 15 new jobs.
“Along with our new investors we look forward to developing new opportunities in the waste to energy sector.”
Ends
- The new ownership is of Argent Energy plc whose principal trading operation is the renewable fuel company Argent Energy (UK) Ltd.
- Managing director, Jim Walker, and finance director, Jim Boyd, are both now shareholders. Founder Andy Hunter remains with the business as chairman.
- Biodiesel is most commonly available in a blend of 5 per cent biodiesel to 95 per cent mineral diesel and that requires no changes to vehicles or to supply chain logistics. Customers include Shell, Petroplus, Harvest Energy and Greenergy who mainly blend and distribute for this market. Higher percentage blends are increasingly popular and Argent Energy has worked with major bus and coach operators on the use of 100 per cent pure biodiesel. Markets for other uses, such as fuelling boilers, are being developed.
- Argent Energy’s biodiesel plant can produce around 45,000 tonnes of biodiesel a year, or in excess of 50 million litres.
- Legislation (the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation or RTFO) is now in place which requires 3.25 per cent of fuel sold at UK forecourts to come from renewable sources, with the percentage rising to 5 per cent by 2013/2014. And the UK has signed up to an EU target of 10 per cent by 2020.
- To encourage suppliers to source the most environmentally friendly biofuels, companies are required to report to the Renewable Fuels Agency on the sustainability and greenhouse gas benefits of the biofuels they sell. This is seen as a stepping stone to a mandatory assurance scheme. The government has signalled that from April 2010 it aims to reward biofuels under the RTFO according to their carbon savings and from 2011 they will only reward biofuels made from feedstocks which meet appropriate sustainability standards. Under the RTFO Argent Energy's biodiesel rates very highly on greenhouse gas saving. And since its raw materials are by-products, it meets the highest sustainability criteria and is exempt from that part of the reporting requirement.
24 August 2009
Further information:
For Argent Energy:
Maria Limonci, Maria Limonci Public Relations,
t: 01560 482683, m: 07753 163186.
For Souter Investments:
Andy Macfie
t: 0131 225 7688
For Cinven:
Marc Cohen, Financial Dynamics,
t: 020 7831 3113
