Helped raise nearly $500 mm in construction financing for a 100 MW woody biomass power generation facility.

Non-recourse debt provided by: Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi,  Natixis, Rabobank, ING Capital, Crédit Agricole and Société Générale.

Named “Biomass Deal of the Year” by Project Finance Magazine.

“Perhaps the most important feature of the Gainesville facility is that it is almost conventional enough to be readily repeatable. The deal attracted a broad base of bank support, based on familiar technology and a well-rated offtaker. But it had to contend with several challenges, including accommodating an uncertain outlook for US renewables incentives.”

- Project Finance Magazine

Have helped close dozens of transactions --- acquisitions, divestitures, equity offerings, debt offerings --- and have been involved in deals from all angles (as lawyer, banker, company management). Can help a company prepare for and execute a transaction, and can help investors perform due diligence and get to close. Below are only a few examples:

Venture-backed startup equity raise. As CFO closed multiple capital raises (a Series B and two Series C rounds) in a very challenging fundraising environment, raising approximately $38 million and adding marquee names to the cap table. Led all activities for the Series C raise, including: developed roadshow narrative and presentations; led investor presentations and managed internal narratives; oversaw data room management and investor due diligence responses.

Biomass Power Project Financing. As CFO helped raise nearly $500 million, including both debt and equity, in a non-recourse project finance structure for a 100 MW biomass-fueled power generation project. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Natixis, Rabobank, ING, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole were lead arrangers of the senior credit facility. The transaction won Project Finance Magazine’s 2011 North American Biomass “Deal of the Year” award.

Biomass Power Monetization. Sold biomass power facility to a municipally owned utility for $750 million, achieving a highly successful exit for project investors. Managed complex political and legal relations to allow for transaction completion.

Publicly-Traded RNG Project Developer.  As COO helped execute several capital raises, including:

—   $60 million tax exempt bond offering of industrial revenue bonds, in conjunction with a $15 million investment of convertible preferred shares and warrants from a large strategic as part of a joint development deal.

—   Three separate public offerings of common stock.

Al was recruited to lead this provider of asset management services for power and other infrastructure projects following its acquisition by a Fortune 250 company. Details of asset management services are listed here.

The Situation

Internal Management Issues. Understaffed with limited organizational structure; lack of policies & procedures to ensure timely and accurate delivery of services; uneven levels of performance and workload distribution; command-and-control system leading to lack of ownership and personal responsibility; no mentoring or professional growth; low morale.

Client Relations. Repeated instances of low level of quality/timeliness stressed relationship with clients.

Systems. Aging software systems further exacerbated service delivery (unsupported accounting system, manual AP process).

Parent Company Relationship. Standalone without integration with new owner.

Business Development. Outdated marketing materials; no methodology for vetting opportunity, proposal development or pricing.

Market / Offerings. Exclusively thermal power. No energy management capabilities.

Actions Taken

Human Resources. Revamped team and org structure; implemented performance review and mentoring processes; clarified expectations; moved from command-and-control to ownership-responsibility model; reallocated workload.

Internal Management. Revamped policies and workflow; implemented quality control initiatives.

Client Relations. Instituted hands-on problem solving with key clients; created leads for specific project portfolio.

Systems. Upgraded systems, beginning with critical items necessary to properly deliver service, then moved to increasing efficiency and lowering cost.

Parent Company Relationship. Integrated/collaborated with owner to benefit from shared resources, including sales and marketing efforts, while balancing need for asset management independence.

Business Development. Upgraded marketing materials; instituted methodology for consistent vetting, proposal development and pricing.

Market/Offerings. Made entering solar and wind sectors a strategic priority. Formed alliances for energy management.

Outcome

Improved quality and timeliness of service while simultaneously reducing the temperature in the office.

Repaired client relationships. Remain go-to asset manager for key customer.

Continued adding new business from existing key customer.

Added new potential anchor client.

Achieved 99% of potential incentive fee targets, demonstrating high level of customer satisfaction.

Entered solar industry with key anchor client

Through alliances added energy management capability.

Exceeded budget targets each year.

As COO managed all day-to-day matters for this developer of renewable natural gas facilities.

The Situation

Company was in the middle of developing its first three facilities – completing these and demonstrating their successful operation was critical for continued viability of the company.

The Problem

Projects were behind schedule with disorganized development plan.

Lack of clarity as to company’s goals, and therefore as to each department’s goals.

No mutual understanding among team members as to responsibilities of each, expectations of interactions with others on the team. Strained internal relationships resulted.

Slipping timetable strained relationship with offtaker (municipally owned utility).

Above was exacerbated by disparate, multi-location nature of the company.

Actions Taken

Organized and led structured, multi-day all-hands in-person meetings and follow-up sessions. Provided all participants with homework to be completed in advance (thinking needs to be done ahead of time). At these meetings we:

Agreed on overall company goals over following 3, 12 and 24 month periods.

Broke down those goals to necessary accomplishments required by each group to support meeting those goals, and further broke down to individual level.

Clarified roles and responsibilities of each member, and in particular the borders between them.

Clarified how project responsibility moves from one department to another (and individual to individual) as it moves along its lifecycle.

Created “stop doing” lists (in addition to the “to do” lists) for each key team member.

Implemented steps to break down animosities that had built up over time, including more in-person meetings, placing an engineering group presence at HQ, and more clarity around company requirements and goals.

Outcome

Repaired relationship with offtaker and signed PPA.

Completed projects on time and under budget, paving the way for capital raise and continued project development.