Laidlaw Energy Announces Update Concerning Acquisitions and Other Matters
4 hours 30 minutes ago - BIZ via Comtex
BusinessWire Laidlaw Energy Group, Inc. (Ticker Symbol "LLEG") released today the following update to its shareholders concerning acquisitions and other matters.
Dear shareholders and friends:
I am writing to you today to provide an update on the activities of Laidlaw Energy over the past several months.
We recently announced the acquisition of the power plant situated at the former Polaroid manufacturing facility in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The former Polaroid facility has been partially redeveloped to house companies that support a greener economy, including a company that manufactures cutting-edge solar technology. The power plant serves the vital role of providing the thermal energy necessary for the manufacturing process of this company pursuant to a long-term Energy Services Agreement between this company and our wholly owned subsidiary, Laidlaw New Bedford Biopower, LLC.
We have now completed the transition from prior management and assumed control of the facility. We expect its revenues from current operations to be included in our fiscal 2011 results.
The near-term goal of the project is to make improvements to the facility in order to make it a more efficient and cost effective source of power for the current and potential future tenants at the facility, as well as to add an electric generation component that will serve the needs of the tenants and export any excess electricity to the grid.
Longer term, we are discussing with potential partners the possibility of including a solar energy component in this and other projects we currently have in development. We are also exploring the feasibility of adding a biomass-power component at the New Bedford facility.
We structured this acquisition as a lease with purchase option in order to minimize the capital outlay required for this acquisition. Once the planned higher efficiency project is closer to commencement we plan to exercise the option to purchase the plant, though it is worth emphasizing that no additional capital will be required nor will there be any shares of LLEG issued. Irrespective of whether we lease or purchase this asset, we will receive all equity cash flows from this project.
Separately, we have concluded the negotiations of all the material business terms with respect to the acquisition of the approximately 14 megawatt power plant situated in California that we previously announced. We are highly confident that the definitive agreement for this acquisition will be executed prior to the end of this month. In the interim, we have identified another significant acquisition opportunity on the West Coast that if completed will give us over 30 megawatts of biomass energy in a market that is legislatively required to obtain 30 percent of its power from renewable sources.
Additionally, the Berlin, NH project continues to make progress and as a stakeholder we remain very optimistic with respect to its future. As you may be aware, the long-term power purchase agreement for this project was recently finalized. Due to matters pending before the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee we will refrain from making further public comment at this time, though we fully expect all of the details of our sale of this project's equity holdings and our continued obligations pursuant to certain Management Services Agreements to be addressed in our upcoming filing with the U.S. SEC.
Lastly, we continue to focus great time and attention on our efforts to draft and file a Form 10 registration statement with the SEC and move the trading of our shares to the OTCBB at a minimum. This is a top priority of our company at present and I believe we will accomplish this goal soon, though I must emphasize that this is a significant undertaking but one that I believe will ultimately be worth the effort for our company. We are absolutely committed to achieving this objective as soon as possible.
Thank you as always for your continued trust and support.
Mike
Michael B. Bartoszek President & Chief Executive Officer
About Laidlaw Energy Group
Laidlaw Energy is engaged in the development of independent power plants that generate electricity from renewable resources, with a particular emphasis on biomass power. Laidlaw Energy's mission is to build and manage a profitable portfolio of biomass and combined heat and power facilities through the development of new facilities and acquisition of existing facilities, and in so doing become the leading supplier of biomass power in the United States. Laidlaw Energy is headquartered in New York, New York. For more information, please visit our website at
www.LaidlawEnergy.com.
This communication contains statements expressing expectations of future events and/or results which may include, without limitation, statements concerning anticipated financial performance, business prospects, technological developments, potential markets, new products, research and development activities and similar matters. Such statements constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements based on future expectations rather than historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and LLEG cannot provide assurance that such statements will prove to be correct. LLEG undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
SOURCE: Laidlaw Energy Group, Inc.
Laidlaw Energy Group, Inc. Edward D. Meyers, 212-480-9882 Vice President -- Investor Relations
edm@laidlawenergy.com