EBI News for July 29, 2020- New Projects, Acquisitions and Significant Statistics

EBI News for July 29, 2020- The following news section highlights the latest stories in the Environmental Industry. Including company and product acquisitions, as well as significant statistics surrounding the environmental industry.

 

Montrose Environmental files for a $150 million IPO

Montrose Environmental Group (Irvine, Calif.), a provider of testing, leak detection, remediation, water treatment, regulatory consulting, and other environmental services, has filed for an initial public offering for up to $150 million, with shares priced at $15. The company was founded in 2012 and booked $244 million in revenue for the 12 months ended March 31, 2020. Montrose has pursued a focused acquisition strategy, announcing several acquisitions in the 2019 to mid-2020 timeframe alone, including: CTEH emergency response; ECT2 air and water treatment technologies; Lehder Environmental Services; Air, Water and Soil Laboratories; Target Emission Services; Golden Specialty air testing; and Environmental Planning Specialists. The company has grown to more than 65 offices and 1,500 employees in the United States, Canada and Australia. Montrose is backed by Oaktree Capital and plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol MEG.

Electronic waste represents billions in lost value

A record 53.6 million metric tonnes (Mt) of electronic waste was generated worldwide in 2019, up 21% in five years, according to the UN’s Global E-waste Monitor 2020. Only 17.4% of 2019’s e-waste was collected and recycled, meaning gold, silver, copper, platinum and other recoverable materials conservatively valued at $57 billion were mostly dumped or burned rather than being collected for treatment and reuse. The report predicts global e-waste will reach 74 Mt by 2030, making e-waste the world’s fastest-growing domestic wastestream. Global E-waste Statistics Partnership is a collaboration between UN University, International Telecommunication Union, International Solid Waste Assn. and the UN Environment Programme.

Xylem’s bond offering provides funding capacity for green projects

Xylem Inc. (Rye Brook, N.Y.), a global water technology company, announced closing its inaugural green bond offering of $1 billion in senior unsecured notes. Proceeds will fund green projects that help improve water accessibility, water affordability, and water systems resilience in alignment with Xylem’s Green Finance Framework. This is the second sustainability-driven financing completed by the company, which previously executed an $800 million revolving credit facility with a sustainability-linked pricing mechanism in March 2019. Xylem had revenue of $5.25 billion in 2019. 

Jacobs awarded solar PV power plant contract in Malaysia

Jacobs (Dallas) has been appointed by Hanwha Energy Corporation of South Korea to deliver owner’s engineer services for a new 100-megawatt alternating current solar photovoltaic power plant in Malaysia. The project will be connected to the electricity transmission system operated by utility provider Tenaga Nasional. The project is one of five selected in a national Large-Scale Solar (LSS) third procurement program led by Malaysia’s Energy Commission. The LSS program aims to increase the country’s renewable resources from 2% to 20% by 2030.

Coal plant development resurgent in China

China has almost 250 GW of coal-fired capacity under development even though the government had previously halted the construction of new plants for many years, according to a briefing by Global Energy Monitor (GEM) and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. A survey from January 1 to June 15, 2020 indicated that capacity under development is larger than the coal fleet of the United States. Plans for new coal plants in China have steadily increased since 2019 after the central government began relaxing restrictions, according to GEM. The resurgence is driven not by a need for more coal power generating capacity but by a race to grab market share in power generation and coal mining, and to prop up GDP numbers with megaprojects, the briefing concluded.

Contour joins Universal Engineering family of companies 

Universal Engineering Sciences (Orlando, Fla.) has acquired Contour Engineering LLC (Kennesaw, Ga.). Contour provides the same core services as Universal, including geotechnical and environmental engineering, construction materials testing, and EHS solutions. Contour joins Universal Engineering Sciences, GFA International, and Nova Geotechnical & Inspection Services, and is the fourth investment made in association with Palm Beach Capital. Universal operates from 34 offices in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, North Carolina, Nevada and California and has 1,500 employees. 

Respec acquires North American Reserve

Respec (Rapid City, S.C.), a consulting company that specializes in mining, energy, water, environment, and technology, has acquired North American Reserve (Laconia, N.H.), an environmental, geologic, and mining consulting company serving the construction aggregate, surface and underground mining, and heavy construction industries. Founded in 1989, clients include investors, producers, and operators throughout the United States and Canada. The North American Reserve division of Respec will remain based in New Hampshire. 

Danaher adds complementary software provider to global water platform

Aquatic Informatics Inc. (Vancouver, BC) has been acquired by Danaher Corporation’s (Washington, DC) Water Quality platform from XPV Water Partners. Aquatic Informatics provides software for data management, analytics, and compliance in the global water industry. “With our deep applications expertise, we can combine hardware, software, and services together to help environmental, municipal, and industrial customers save money, improve asset performance and reduce risk,” said Danaher VP and Group Executive Kevin Klau. “Uniting Aquatic Informatics together with Hach’s Claros offering will accelerate our ability to solve the most critical problems for customers across the water cycle.” Danaher’s Water Quality platform includes Hach, Pall, Trojan Technologies, and ChemTreat.

Suez acquires Lanxess reverse osmosis membrane portfolio

Suez (Paris, France) has agreed to purchase the reverse osmosis (RO) membrane portfolio of specialty chemical company Lanxess (Cologne, Germany), adding it to its own Water Technologies & Solutions division. The acquisition is in line with Suez’s strategy to grow in the industrial water market. The deal offers Suez complementary RO technology in adjacent and growing sectors, and expands its international RO membrane production capabilities.

B&V accelerator selects 18 partners to address Covid-19

Black & Veatch (Overland Park, Kansas) has chosen 18 partners for its IgniteX Covid-19 Response Accelerator designed to mobilize emerging technologies to fight the disease. Startups, established businesses and universities were selected from more than 300 applications. Black and Veatch is providing grants or in-kind services as a part of the program. Partners are involved in a range of categories from disinfection and filtration to health screening, tracking and tracing, wearables, data intelligence and communications.

AEC firms rehire; median utilization rates still above pre-Covid levels

Firms with less than $100 million in revenue have rehired half their employees laid off or furloughed due to Covid-19, according to AEC Advisors’ 7th survey on the impact of the virus on the AEC industry. Firms with more than $100 million in revenue have rehired only 30% of their employees laid off or furloughed. However, only 22% of firms with less than $100 million of revenue laid off or furloughed employees, while 68% of firms with more than $100 million of revenue laid off or furloughed employees, and firms of that size are generally over 500 employees and therefore not eligible for PPP loans. AEC Advisors’ survey of 241 firms found as firms moved to a “work from home” environment in March and April, the median utilization rate increased 2.3%, but as firms have begun to return to the office or as backlog has been worked through, utilization rates have declined 0.5% but are still well above pre-Covid-19 levels.

EBI’s Outlook for the Environmental Industry

Sample exhibit from the most recent edition of Environmental Business Journal. One of 47 exhibits in this 62-page special edition dedicated to an industry outlook for 2020 and 2021.

 

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