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A firm controlled by Ottawa entrepreneur Rod Bryden, founder of the failed Plasco Energy Group Inc., has bought the remaining assets of the energy-conversion company for $1 and a promise to pay some of the firm’s outstanding debt.
Bryden’s company, RMB Advisory Services Inc., acquired Plasco’s assigned patent and intellectual property from two secured creditors: North Shore Power Group Inc., a municipally owned electricity utility in the Town of Blind River, and another company called Canadian Water Projects Inc.
It has committed to pay the two companies $40 million they had invested in the former Plasco, plus four per cent interest whenever the new firm is in a position to pay those monies back.
As well, Bryden becomes the sole owner of the firm and chief executive officer of Plasco again. He has hired back seven of the company’s key long-term employees, including former engineering vice-president Marc Bacon, chief scientific officer Andreas Tsangaris and process engineering manager Tom Wagler.
“All of the value created since Plasco’s formation is embodied in the technology, plant design and know-how generated during eight years of operational testing at the Trail Road facility,” Bryden said in a release Monday.
“The result of the last eight months of CCAA protection has been to preserve substantially all of the value created by Plasco, none of which would have been possible without the actions taken by Plasco’s secured creditors, North Shore and CWP (Canadian Water Projects) who stayed with it and kept their eyes on the ball.”
North Shore and Canadian Water Projects were among the first in line to get any cash or assets that may be made available as a result of the firm’s Canadian Companies and Creditors Arrangement Act, which protected the firm from its creditors and bankruptcy.
In August it was announced that the company’s remaining physical assets, which comprised its working test facility located at Ottawa’s Trail Road landfill, were sold to a liquidation company for $487,000 U.S. North Shore and Canadian Water Projects split that sum.
They were also awarded a number of patents pertaining to the processes of how Plasco’s energy to waste systems work. It’s those patents and processes that have been sold back to Bryden for $1. In return, North Shore and Canadian Water Projects become secured creditors of the new Plasco under Bryden.
Of the $40 million Bryden’s company has promised to pay, North Shore is owed a total of $18 million. The utility used a loan from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. to invest in the Ottawa firm. The 3,500 residents of the small town, which has annual tax revenues of less than $8.8 million annually, has had to renegotiate the terms of its loan payback with CMHC when Plasco failed to make its annual loan payment earlier this year.
The debt load for the new Plasco is a drop in the bucket when compared to the amount the old company had before it filed for court protection from its creditors. The old Plasco had attracted more than $400 million worth of investment since it was founded by Bryden in 2005.
In an interview Bryden said he believes that Plasco’s technology has a bright future. He said that when he was asked to step down as the firm’s CEO in January 2014 by investors, the firm was on track to build a full-scale commercial facility. He believes something went wrong after that point.
“The question is, is this a car that’s stalled on the side of the road because it ran out of gas? Or, did someone run away with the engine?” he said. “When I left, I did not expect to come back. I certainly did not have a plan to return. But, I like many others, were surprised by the decision to not build the Ottawa plant and to file for CCAA (court protection from creditors).”
Bryden said while he doesn’t expect the City of Ottawa to pick right up where it last left off in relation to its commercial agreement with Plasco, he would still to speak to key city politicians and staff in the weeks ahead.
“I certainly hope to have a good relationship with the City of Ottawa,” said Bryden. “But, we’re not asking the city to dust off that commercial contract or to otherwise participate with us. The city may well, in the future, decide that it needs something new in addition to its landfill site to handle waste and it might be by that time we are in a position to do something about that. I certainly hope to speak to some of the councillors, the mayor and the city manager, just to say hello.”
vpilieci@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
Bryden’s company, RMB Advisory Services Inc., acquired Plasco’s assigned patent and intellectual property from two secured creditors: North Shore Power Group Inc., a municipally owned electricity utility in the Town of Blind River, and another company called Canadian Water Projects Inc.
It has committed to pay the two companies $40 million they had invested in the former Plasco, plus four per cent interest whenever the new firm is in a position to pay those monies back.
As well, Bryden becomes the sole owner of the firm and chief executive officer of Plasco again. He has hired back seven of the company’s key long-term employees, including former engineering vice-president Marc Bacon, chief scientific officer Andreas Tsangaris and process engineering manager Tom Wagler.
“All of the value created since Plasco’s formation is embodied in the technology, plant design and know-how generated during eight years of operational testing at the Trail Road facility,” Bryden said in a release Monday.
“The result of the last eight months of CCAA protection has been to preserve substantially all of the value created by Plasco, none of which would have been possible without the actions taken by Plasco’s secured creditors, North Shore and CWP (Canadian Water Projects) who stayed with it and kept their eyes on the ball.”
North Shore and Canadian Water Projects were among the first in line to get any cash or assets that may be made available as a result of the firm’s Canadian Companies and Creditors Arrangement Act, which protected the firm from its creditors and bankruptcy.
In August it was announced that the company’s remaining physical assets, which comprised its working test facility located at Ottawa’s Trail Road landfill, were sold to a liquidation company for $487,000 U.S. North Shore and Canadian Water Projects split that sum.
They were also awarded a number of patents pertaining to the processes of how Plasco’s energy to waste systems work. It’s those patents and processes that have been sold back to Bryden for $1. In return, North Shore and Canadian Water Projects become secured creditors of the new Plasco under Bryden.
Of the $40 million Bryden’s company has promised to pay, North Shore is owed a total of $18 million. The utility used a loan from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. to invest in the Ottawa firm. The 3,500 residents of the small town, which has annual tax revenues of less than $8.8 million annually, has had to renegotiate the terms of its loan payback with CMHC when Plasco failed to make its annual loan payment earlier this year.
The debt load for the new Plasco is a drop in the bucket when compared to the amount the old company had before it filed for court protection from its creditors. The old Plasco had attracted more than $400 million worth of investment since it was founded by Bryden in 2005.
In an interview Bryden said he believes that Plasco’s technology has a bright future. He said that when he was asked to step down as the firm’s CEO in January 2014 by investors, the firm was on track to build a full-scale commercial facility. He believes something went wrong after that point.
“The question is, is this a car that’s stalled on the side of the road because it ran out of gas? Or, did someone run away with the engine?” he said. “When I left, I did not expect to come back. I certainly did not have a plan to return. But, I like many others, were surprised by the decision to not build the Ottawa plant and to file for CCAA (court protection from creditors).”
Bryden said while he doesn’t expect the City of Ottawa to pick right up where it last left off in relation to its commercial agreement with Plasco, he would still to speak to key city politicians and staff in the weeks ahead.
“I certainly hope to have a good relationship with the City of Ottawa,” said Bryden. “But, we’re not asking the city to dust off that commercial contract or to otherwise participate with us. The city may well, in the future, decide that it needs something new in addition to its landfill site to handle waste and it might be by that time we are in a position to do something about that. I certainly hope to speak to some of the councillors, the mayor and the city manager, just to say hello.”
vpilieci@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
