OAK BROOK, IL, Aug. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Primary Energy Recycling Corporation (TSX: PRI), (the "Company") a clean energy company that generates revenue from capturing and recycling waste energy from industrial processes, today announced the appointment of Mr. Douglas Graham, currently a Portfolio Manager at KVO Capital Management, to its Board of Directors. KVO Capital Management is a substantial shareholder of the Company.
From 2009 to the present, Mr. Graham has managed a portfolio of investments for KVO Capital Management, a New Hampshire-based hedge fund. Prior to that, Mr. Graham held the position of Portfolio Manager with Onex Capital Management in New York, which invested in small to mid-cap companies in the U.S. and in Canada. At both firms, Mr. Douglas built close working relationships with the executives of the companies that his fund invested in. Mr. Graham's extensive background in the investment business also includes five years at Goldman Sachs in its private equity division.
In the past, he has sat on the Board of Directors of Berry Plastics, a leading specialty plastics packaging company with publicly-traded bonds, and at Adam Aircraft Industries, a venture-backed aircraft development company. Mr. Graham has declined compensation from Primary Energy to sit on its Board of Directors.
"Doug's addition to the Board supports Primary Energy's objective of further aligning the mutual interests of the Company and its shareholders," said Mr. Michel Lavigne, Chair of the Board of Directors. "His appointment fortifies the Board's capital markets acumen, which will be important as the Company executes its business plan. While our current focus is renewal of key contracts with site hosts, the next priorities are gaining greater autonomy from its external Manager and implementing a strategy for the future. Doug's experience with debt and equity financing and understanding the investor's perspective will be invaluable in these endeavors."
The Company also announced today that Mr. John Prunkl, its President and Chief Executive Officer, has been awarded 5,500,000 fully vested stock options. 5,000,000 have an exercise price of Cdn$1.00 and 500,000 have an exercise price of Cdn$1.20 and may be exercised at any time during the next 10 years. The award is contingent upon shareholder and Toronto Stock Exchange approval of the Company's stock option plan. A special meeting of shareholders will be scheduled to obtain a vote of shareholders on the matter. The stock option plan and related voting materials will be mailed to shareholders in advance of the special meeting.
The Company also announced that its Ironside Energy facility has returned to service after 14 months of curtailment because of a shutdown of the host steel mill due to steel market weakness, followed by a protracted issue with the host's electrical distribution system that precluded operation of the turbine-generator. Mr. John Prunkl, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company said, "The steel industry is now operating at much higher levels than those causing the idling of Ironside. We anticipate an increase in revenue during the remainder of the year with Ironside back on-line."
Forward-Looking Statements
When used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "expect", "project", "believe", "estimate", "forecast" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions pertaining, but not limited, to operating performance, regulatory parameters, weather and economic conditions and the factors discussed in the Company's public filings available on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com/. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances except as required by applicable securities laws.
About Primary Energy Recycling Corporation
Primary Energy Recycling Corporation owns a majority interest in Primary Energy Recycling Holdings LLC ("PERH"). PERH, headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, indirectly owns and operates four recycled energy projects and a 50 per cent interest in a pulverized coal facility (collectively, the "Projects"). The Projects have a combined electrical generating capacity of 283 megawatts and a combined steam generating capacity of 1.8M lbs/hour. PERH creates value for its customers by capturing and recycling waste energy from industrial and electric generation processes and converting it into reliable and economical electricity and thermal energy for resale back to its customers. For more information, please see http://www.primaryenergy.com/.
Primary Energy Recycling Corporation
CONTACT: Chief Financial Officer, Mike Alverson, 630.230.1314,
investorinfo@primaryenergy.com; Media and Investor Relations, Adam Peeler,
416.815.0700 ext. 225, apeeler@equicomgroup.com
