Hydrodec takes operational control of North American ops

Cleantech industrial oil re-refining group Hydrodec said on Friday that it has taken operational control of its North American operations.

Further to its recent strategic review and as part of the realignment of its interests in the US, the company has reached agreement with its long-term partners, G&S Oil Recycling (G&S), to increase Hydrodec's interest in Hydrodec of North America (HoNA) from 58% to 85%. In addition, it has agreed to restructure the governance and representation on the HoNA board, to increase plant and commercial efficiency at the Canton, Ohio facility and to provide Hydrodec with overall operational control.

At the same time, Hydrodec will inject $3.8m of working capital into the business.

Hydrodec is also now in the process of agreeing a new feedstock supply agreement with G&S to deliver a fully aligned platform for growth of the company's US activities.

Executvie chairman Lord Moynihan said: "I am pleased to close the year with more material progress as we set Hydrodec on an exciting course for the years to come. 2018 has seen the start of the delivery of a major turnaround for the company with a comprehensive strategic review; a successful capital raise with strong institutional support; and today's announcement of a substantial increase in our ownership of Hydrodec's US activities, increasing our strategic, commercial and operational flexibility in the region.

"These are the necessary building blocks for Hydrodec to become the leading green re-refiner of transformer oil in the world. With the generation of carbon credits that our output provides, we are now in a position to deliver a strong platform for both growth and profitability, and we look forward to reporting on our further progress in 2019."

At 0850 GMT, the shares were down 0.4% to 70p.