Meridian Waste completes deal for CFS Group

The solid waste services company Meridian Waste Solutions Inc., Winfield, Missouri, has completed the acquisition of Richmond, Virginia-based The CFS Group LLC. The acquisition includes The CFS Group Disposal & Recycling Services LLC and RWG5 LLC. CFG Group services more than 30,000 commercial, industrial and residential customers in the Richmond area. In addition to a fleet of collection vehicles, CFS Group operates two solid waste landfills, one transfer station and one recycling facility, all located in the central Virginia area.

The transaction is the first solid waste acquisition for Meridian Waste's outside of Missouri.

Meridian Waste operates in the St. Louis and Richmond, Virginia, areas. The company services more than 118,500 residential, commercial, industrial and government customers and operates four transfer stations, one recycling facility and three municipal solid waste landfills.

Going forward, The CFS Group companies will continue to own and operate all their existing waste collection and disposal assets. An advantage with the acquisition is that the company will have access to capital for growth and acquisitions.

"The stock transaction maintains the integrity of our entities, while granting us access to greater capital to replace scheduled equipment and systems and invest in new opportunities for expansion," says Rob Guidry, president of CFS Group. "This event will be seamless in the eyes of our customers and stakeholders, as our entire team continues to strive to be the best in the solid waste industry."

"Meridian Waste is on the forefront of an explosive period of growth, and I couldn't be more pleased than to have The CFS Group and Rob Guidry lead our expansion into the Commonwealth of Virginia," says Jeff Cosman, CEO of Meridian Waste. "This acquisition further defines our growth strategy of targeting and expanding within vertically integrated markets and serve as a platform for further growth. Our combined companies will continue the quality environmental services CFS Group's customers have come to expect, and we know that together we create a stronger company driven by men and women committed to a clean community and environmental excellence.

“We welcome our newest team members to Meridian Waste and are proud to continue their efforts in providing superior customer service under the Meridian Waste family of companies," Cosman continues.

Meridian also recently formed a new subsidiary called Meridian innovations LLC, which will focus on investing in advanced byproduct recovery technologies and acquiring downstream production assets that capitalize on the value of recovered materials.

To make the subsidiary a success, Meridian Innovations says it has identified a technical development team of experts who have a highly successful technology development and commercialization history. Over the past 10 years, these experts have invented and commercialized technologies that currently generate more than $500 million per year in net income from process equipment costing less than $500 million to install. The value has been created through the recovery of materials from low value industrial byproduct streams.

"The solid waste industry has a responsibility to identify and maximize economic benefit from the materials it collects for processing and/or disposal," says Cosman. "Through the creation of Meridian Innovations, our company is committed to exploring and implementing sustainable technologies, while simultaneously creating shareholder financial value. It is imperative that both sustainability and economic benefits are jointly respected and gained."