SAVAGE, Minn. (Nov. 18, 2008) — GreenMan Technologies Inc. has completed its divestiture of its crumb rubber subsidiaries in Minnesota and Iowa to Liberty Tire Services of Ohio L.L.C., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Tire Services L.L.C.
Liberty Tire paid GreenMan $27.5 million cash for the sale, which was announced in September. GreenMan is using $16 million of the money to retire certain obligations, including $12.8 million to its primary secured lender, Laurus Master Fund Ltd., the company said in a press release. After all obligations and taxes are paid, GreenMan will have $7 million in ready cash from the sale, it said.
With the divestiture, GreenMan will concentrate on what it considers its most promising operations: Welch Products Inc., a Des Moines-based manufacturer of recycled rubber surfacing products, which recently won contracts from several state governments to provide surfacing for playgrounds and state parks; and GreenMan Renewable Fuel and Alternative Energy, which seeks to commercialize green-based energy technologies.
GreenMan is in discussions regarding several joint ventures in the renewable fuel and alternative energy areas, but those talks are still preliminary, according to GreenMan CFO Chuck Coppa. The company is in the process of arranging to ship feedstock to China to evaluate the possibility of processing tire shreds into diesel fuel and electric power, Coppa said.