A local environmental services business owned by Baton Rouge-based Bernhard Capital Partners has acquired a struggling business in Mississippi in a multimillion-dollar deal.
Green Meadow Sustainable Solutions bought Fayette, Mississippi-based Riverbend Environmental Services LLC in a deal which closed in late 2020.
As part of the deal, Green Meadow controls the Riverbend Landfill in Jefferson County, Mississippi, alongside transfer stations in Vicksburg and Baton Rouge. Riverbend expects to keep its contracts with various municipal entities such as the transfer station and solid waste collection contract with Brookhaven, Mississippi, among others in the region.
Riverbend Environmental filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2019, records show. Since then, there's been a fire and disruption in landfill trash service, according to the Natchez Democrat. As such, Green Meadow under the name Greenway Environmental Services, bought Riverbend out of bankruptcy for $5.1 million, records show.
In East Baton Rouge Parish, Green Meadow also inherited debts owed to Peoples Bank on a 16-acre tract and to Worldwide Financial Co., J.W. Fridge Investments and C.B. Morgan Equipment & Services LLC. Green Meadow is also now responsible for property taxes upward of $38,300 for 2019 in Baton Rouge.
Bernhard Capital was founded in 2013 by former Shaw Group chief executive Jim Bernhard, Jeff Jenkins and a group of private-equity professionals to acquire, operate and grow services and infrastructure businesses. The firm raised $750 million for its first private equity fund three years later. A second $1.2 billion fund controlled by Bernhard Capital closed in 2019.
Now Green Meadow looks to invest "heavily in state-of-the-art infrastructure upgrades and new equipment" as part of the deal.
“We are problem solvers, working with our customers to provide customized solutions, and expanding our scale and capabilities to serve market needs," John Foley, CEO of Green Meadow, said in a news release.
Bernhard Capital already owns a stake in Lafayette-based general contractor The Lemoine Co. after a deal closed in 2019. Bernhard Capital portfolio companies also include Bernhard LLC in Metairie; Brown and Root in Baton Rouge; Allied Power in Baton Rouge; National Water Infrastructure in Ascension; Atlas Technical Consultants in Austin, Texas; Bernhard Energy Solutions in Baton Rouge; Charah Solutions in Louisville, Kentucky; Epic Piping in Livingston; and United Utility in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The worldwide portfolio companies under Bernhard Capital employ more than 18,000 people.
