Organic waste processing firm Biogen has been sold by its joint venture owners – the services firm Kier and agriculture specialist Bedfordia Group – to an infrastructure investment company, Ancala Bioenergy Limited.
The company was purchased for an undisclosed sum, in a deal announced this morning (18 April).
Biogen’s Bryn Pica AD plant, near Rhondda
Biogen is an established name in the UK’s anaerobic digestion sector, having been formed in 2005 by Bedfordia, and completing its first AD facility the following year. Kier then bought a 50% stake in the company in August 2012 (see letsrecycle.com story). Between 2008 and 2012 it was known as Biogen Greenfinch, following a merger with AD specialist Greenfinch.
Biogen currently operates seven anaerobic digestion facilities across the UK, with an overall capacity to process up to 250,000 tonnes of food waste per year.
The company opened its newest facility, the 45,000 tonnes per year capacity facility at Merevale near Atherstone in Warwickshire in October 2016 (see letsrecycle.com story) as well as operating plants in Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire, Denbighshire, Caernarfon and Rhondda.
Ancala
Ancala Bioenergy Ltd, Biogen’s new majority owner, is an infrastructure investment vehicle managed by Ancala Partners LLP – which was set up in 2010. Other investments by the company to date have included in hydro-energy production, solar energy production as well as a minority interest in Southern Water.
The successful completion of the sale will mean further growth opportunities for Biogen – the companies claim – and provide a platform for Ancala’s expansion into the waste-to-energy sector.
Commenting on the acquisition, Biogen’s managing director Adam Feneley, said: “The acquisition is another exciting milestone in Biogen’s history which further enhances the company’s reputation as the number one food waste to renewable energy company in the UK. The investment is excellent news for Biogen and marks the next stage of growth for the business.”
“Biogen has always led the way for others to follow in the AD industry and I have every confidence that the new shareholders will enable Biogen to continue in its success.”
John Ibbett
Bedfordia Group
Spence Clunie, managing partner of Ancala Partners LLP, added: “Biogen is well known in the industry as one of the leading owners and operators of anaerobic digestion plants. The team has over ten years of experience in the sector and their operational excellence and commercial reach provide Ancala with an established platform from which to expand in the sector.”
John Ibbett, chairman of Bedfordia Group, said that the acquisition would allow Biogen to ‘continue its success’ in the AD sector. He said: “I am immensely proud of all Biogen has accomplished in its 11 years, of the market-leading business we have built and of the team of people who have made it possible. Biogen has always led the way for others to follow in the AD industry and I have every confidence that the new shareholders will enable Biogen to continue in its success.”
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
