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Shareholders of EnergySolutions, Inc. are being offered a better price for their stock under an amended purchase plan the Salt Lake City nuclear waste company has signed with its buyer, a subsidiary of Energy Capital Partners II.
The new plan would pay $4.15 per share, compared with the $3.75 per share previously proposed. And it reportedly saved the deal from being shot down by shareholders, who are set to vote on the acquisition at a special meeting later this month.
Originally announced in January, the deal will put the publicly traded company back into private hands, a New Jersey private equity fund.
"We strongly believe that this offer provides compelling value for our shareholders and will enable us to continue to execute on our strategic plan by providing the investment capital to [deleverage] our balance sheet and grow our business," said David Lockwood, the company's president and CEO. "We have been able to visit with many of our larger shareholders and value their support of this transaction."
Carlson Capital, L.P., the largest institutional owner of EnergySolutions stock (ES:NYSE), had previously voiced opposition to the acquisition. Thanks to the amended plan, Carlson intends to vote in favor of the transaction, according to an EnergySolutions news release.
RadWaste Monitor, an industry publication, reported in its Friday editions that not only was the deal in danger of unraveling, but so was the company itself. In recent weeks, as it became clear Carlson and other angry shareholders could block the sale, EnergySolutions executives were reaching out to shareholders in person and telling them the purchase price was good in an uncertain environment going forward, the weekly newsletter said.
RadWaste Monitor said EnergySolutions executives were pushing the deal forward because they have generous compensation packages awaiting them. The estimated payouts would give Lockwood $16.2 million; CFO Greg Wood, $7.3 million. And three group vice presidents would receive more than $3 million apiece.
News of the amended agreement caused the's company's stock to rise nearly 11 percent, to $4.13 a share, up from Thursday's close of $3.73.
The homegrown, Salt Lake City based company went public in 2007 and expanded rapidly, acquiring new businesses in the United States and Europe, plus a work force of more than 5,000. In the past year, it has lost the Atlas uranium cleanup contract in Moab and cut hundreds of workers from the payroll, including dozens from the company's mile-square low-level radioactive waste site in Tooele County.
Twitter: judyfutah Shareholders of EnergySolutions, Inc. are being offered a better price for their stock under an amended purchase plan the Salt Lake City nuclear waste company has signed with its buyer, a subsidiary of Energy Capital Partners II.
The new plan would pay $4.15 per share, compared with the $3.75 per share previously proposed. And it reportedly saved the deal from being shot down by shareholders, who are set to vote on the acquisition at a special meeting later this month.
Originally announced in January, the deal will put the publicly traded company back into private hands, a New Jersey private equity fund.
"We strongly believe that this offer provides compelling value for our shareholders and will enable us to continue to execute on our strategic plan by providing the investment capital to [deleverage] our balance sheet and grow our business," said David Lockwood, the company's president and CEO. "We have been able to visit with many of our larger shareholders and value their support of this transaction."
Carlson Capital, L.P., the largest institutional owner of EnergySolutions stock (ES:NYSE), had previously voiced opposition to the acquisition. Thanks to the amended plan, Carlson intends to vote in favor of the transaction, according to an EnergySolutions news release.
RadWaste Monitor, an industry publication, reported in its Friday editions that not only was the deal in danger of unraveling, but so was the company itself. In recent weeks, as it became clear Carlson and other angry shareholders could block the sale, EnergySolutions executives were reaching out to shareholders in person and telling them the purchase price was good in an uncertain environment going forward, the weekly newsletter said.
RadWaste Monitor said EnergySolutions executives were pushing the deal forward because they have generous compensation packages awaiting them. The estimated payouts would give Lockwood $16.2 million; CFO Greg Wood, $7.3 million. And three group vice presidents would receive more than $3 million apiece.
News of the amended agreement caused the's company's stock to rise nearly 11 percent, to $4.13 a share, up from Thursday's close of $3.73.
The homegrown, Salt Lake City based company went public in 2007 and expanded rapidly, acquiring new businesses in the United States and Europe, plus a work force of more than 5,000. In the past year, it has lost the Atlas uranium cleanup contract in Moab and cut hundreds of workers from the payroll, including dozens from the company's mile-square low-level radioactive waste site in Tooele County.
Twitter: judyfutah