AVISTA OIL Refining and Trading, USA

SKion GmbH becomes new shareholder of AVISTA OIL AG

October 12, 2012

Uetze– With a share of almost 30 per cent, SKion GmbH, Bad Homburg v. d. Höhe, will become the second biggest shareholder of AVISTA OIL AG, the leading pioneer in the industry of used oil upcycling. The shareholding will mainly be realized through a capital increase and through the acquisition of shares from the original shareholders. The new funds will be used for future strategic acquisitions and also for the creation and expansion of additional re-refining capacities in Europe and the US. The intended transaction is still pending approval by the cartel authority.

Bernd Merle, the CEO of AVISTA OIL, explains by saying: „The capital increase will enable us to drive forward our global expansion dynamically. SKion’s shareholding is a milestone for our enterprise: We gain a strong and industry experienced partner on our way towards a globally leading position in the production and sale of eco base oils, eco lubricants and by-products as well as recycled fuels.”

With more than 60 years of market experience, AVISTA OIL is a pioneer and technology leader in the upcycling of used oils. The market for re-refined base oils offers a strong global growth potential: The demand for cyclic sustainability concepts with resource conserving and CO2 reduced oil products will continue to grow in the core markets, Europe and the US. With its new and innovative eco-friendly AVIeco oil recycling concept, AVISTA OIL offers all-in-one solutions for the resource conserving supply and disposal of lubricants, particularly for the industry.

AVISTA OIL AG

AVISTA OIL, which was founded in 1951, is one of the leading enterprises in used oil upcycling in Europe. In this field, the group of companies performs the whole range of functions from the collection of used oils, to re-refining and production and to the international marketing and sale of high-quality base oils and their upgrading to lubricants. Nowadays, AVISTA OIL serves along the entire value chain more than 70,000 customers all over the world. In addition, the enterprise offers industrial lubricants and motor oils for the car industry.

Over the past few years, the industry pioneer has continuously grown profitably and is aiming at a turnover of more than €200 million in the business year 2012. Currently, AVISTA OIL has a workforce of approx. 550 employees at four production sites and further logistics sites in Europe and the US.

SKion GmbH

SKion GmbH is a strategic investment company of the German entrepreneur Ms. Susanne Klatten. Via the owner-operated company SKion, Ms. Susanne Klatten holds 100% of the shares of ALTANA AG (special chemistry). With almost 28 per cent, SKion is also an anchor shareholder of SGL Carbon SE (carbon products and materials) and combines holdings in Nordex SE (wind plants), as well as in Gemalto N.V. (digital security) and in Paques N.V. (biological waste water and gas purification techniques). Being a fourth generation entrepreneur, Ms. Susanne Klatten pursues a long-term investment strategy.

Press contact:

Kirsten Thiel
AVISTA OIL AG
Bahnhofstrasse 82
31311 Uetze
Kirsten Thiel
Phone +49 (0) 5177 85-232
Fax +49 (0) 5177 85-228
Mail: Kirsten.thiel@avista-oil.com

Avista Eyes Another NA Re-Refinery

By George Gill – September 26, 2012

Avista Oil Group plans to partner with a used oil collector to build a second rerefinery in North America, in addition to one under construction in Georgia by its Universal Environmental Services subsidiary.

“We are talking to potential partners,” Universal Environmental Services CEO Juan Fritschy told Lube Report. “These are collectors who have enough volume or enough critical mass in used oil for us to grow them.”

Uetze, Germany-based Avista owns 86 percent of UES, which is constructing a base oil rerefinery in Peachtree City, Ga., that is expected to process 30 million gallons of waste oil per year. The rerefinery is projected to have nearly 1,300 barrels per day of total API Group I and II rerefined base oil production capacity, Fritschy said. Mechanical completion is expected to be completed by December 2012, and the plant is expected to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2013.

He emphasized the second rerefinery would not be close to the Peachtree City location. “We are not going to compete with ourselves,” he said. “It needs to be 500 miles away from Peachtree City at least.”

Logistics were a big part of Peachtree City’s appeal, according to Fritschy. Other factors included having a rail spur on the site, and ready access by highway to ports in Savannah, Ga., and Mobile, Ala.

Fritschy explained that when Avista studied the U.S. market in 2009 and 2010, it was looking for many different potential targets. Fritschy noted that the Avista Group does not build a rerefinery if the collection of used oil is not guaranteed and under control.

“The main criteria was that they have to have at least enough collection – maybe not as big as what we need for a rerefinery – but enough collection that will give us enough time, while we’re building a rerefinery, to get to the volume we need for it,” he said.

In 2011, Avista initially acquired a 50 percent stake in UES, enabling it to grow its used oil collection business and plan the base oil rerefinery in Peachtree City. Later that year, UES also acquired the McPherson Oil Cos.’ used oil collection business.

Avista has two rerefineries in Europe. Mineralol-Raffinerie Dollbergen GmbH in Dollbergen, Germany, has 3,300 b/d of Group I capacity, and Dansk Olie Genbrug A/S in Kahlundborg, Denmark, has 800 b/d of Group I capacity.

Re-Refiner Avista Oil Acquires Majority Holding in Dutch Refining Re-Refinery

AVISTA OIL AG, one of the leading European used oil recycling enterprises, or “upcycling” (defined as using every aspect of waste as value) enterprises, has increased its holding in the Dutch North Refining and Trading N.V., Delfzijl re-refinery from 42% to a majority holding. Following the takeover of the shares of the co-shareholder Dusseldorp Holding Inzameling en Recycling B.V., in May of this year, the group took over another 33% from the Dutch van Gansewinkel Groep. As of August 20, 2012, AVISTA OIL holds a majority holding of about 75% in the Dutch re-refining market leader.

“This is a great investment for us, and we are convinced that it will continue to be a great one in the future for all the parties involved“, Bernd Merle, the CEO of AVISTA OIL AG stated. “Our majority holding in North Refinery is another milestone within our international growth strategy and will strengthen not only our strong organic growth but also our market position in Europe.”

North Refinery has vast facilities for accepting used oils for the production of lube distillates, the precursor of the AVISTA OIL Kernsolvat® base oil, and for their recycling to flux oils. Oil-water composites from shipping are accepted and recycled. The annual capacity of North Refinery for the processing of products containing oil into new raw materials and energy components is approximately 200,000 tons.

“AVISTA OIL expects an increase in quality and capacity with North Refinery in the next few years, due to investments. The Delfzijl site of North Refinery offers optimum opportunities for expanding the production of base oils“, Merle says.

With North Refinery, AVISTA OIL now has another logistically convenient North Sea location, thus connecting the oil upcycling refineries of Dansk Olie Genbrug in Denmark and the Dollbergen mineral oil refinery, Germany, which are already part of the Group, to form an efficient logistic upcycling triangle, which also provides for the further improvement of the connection to the American AVISTA OIL upcycling refinery in Peachtree City, Georgia.

With this acquisition, AVISTA OIL was successful in significantly increasing its influence and control in the North Refinery company.

“With the inclusion of North Refinery in AVISTA OIL we can achieve a considerable benefit for our customers and suppliers by enlarging our portfolio, apart from acquiring growth potentials. Thanks to the excellent location of North Refinery by the North Sea, the logistics of the whole group will be optimized, which will enable us to react more flexibly to the requests of our customers and suppliers”, Marc Verfürth, Head of Logistics, says.

Johannes Bos, the managing director of North Refinery, expects continuous growth through AVISTA OIL’s expansion of its holding: “I expect a growth for the company due to the synergies which have now become realisable. With North Refinery we now not only have an easily accessible site but also a large processing capacity within the industry, which is sustainably improved by the market and production experience of AVISTA OIL. The already pursued path towards compliance will be continued without any restrictions, so that, together with AVISTA OIL, we will be best positioned for the future.”

AVISTA OIL, founded in 1951, has experienced continuous profitable growth, and serves its customers along the entire value chain: from collection and services in relation to used oil to upcycling and to the international marketing and distribution of high-quality lubricants and coupled products. With its environment-friendly AVIeco cycle concept AVISTA OIL offers comprehensive solutions for the resource-sparing supply and disposal of lubricants. Under the umbrella of AVISTA OIL AG, a range of subsidiaries and associate companies are bundled which cover the whole range of functions from collection & logistics, recycling and the production of lubricants, as well as international distribution. AVISTA OIL has a workforce of approximately 550 employees at four refinery sites and further sites in Europe and the US.

The North Refinery, which was founded in 2001, processes an annual of 200,000 tons of oil containing products into new raw materials and energy components. North Refinery is active in the European market with a team of 55 employees.

Avista Oil Expands North Sea Presence

By Boris Kamchev – Sept. 5, 2012

Avista Oil AG, one of the biggest producers of rerefined base oils in Europe, became majority owner of the Dutch North Refining and Trading rerefinery. The former co-owner, Dutch Van Gansewinkel Groep, sold its 33 percent stake in the Delfzij, Netherlands-based rerefinery on Aug. 20.

“This is a successful investment for us, and we are convinced that it will be such in the future for all parties involved,” Bernd Merle, the CEO of Germany-based Avista Oil said in a press release. “The majority holding in North Refinery is another milestone within our international growth and our market position in Europe.”

The Dutch refinery has facilities for accepting used oils for the production of lube distillates, a feedstock for producing API Group I base oil, and for making flux oils. Waste oil-water composites from shipping are recycled into new raw materials and energy components. The North Refinery has the capacity to produce up to 200,000 tons of waste oil, the rerefiner said.

“Avista Oil expects an increase in the quality and capacity of the rerefinery in the next few years,” Merle said. “The Delfzijl site of the rerefinery offers optimum opportunities for expanding our base oils production.”

Uetze, Germany-based Avista, has two other rerefineries in Europe. Mineralöl-Raffinerie Dollbergen GmbH in Dollbergen, Germany, can produce 3,300 barrels per day of API Group I base oil. Dansk Olie Genbrug A/S in Kahlundborg, Denmark, has a 800 b/d of Group I capacity. In 2011 it expanded to the United States, where it acquired a 50 percent stake in Universal Environmental Services LLC, which operates a used oil collection and an oil rerefinery in Peachtree City, Ga.

“Thanks to the excellent location of the North Refinery by the North Sea, the logistics of the whole group will be optimized, which will enable us to react more flexibly to the requests of our customers and suppliers,” said Marc Verfürth, Avista’s head of logistics.

Founded in 1954, Avista Oil operates an entire lubes recycling chain in Germany, Belgium and Denmark—from collecting services of used oil to rerefining and international marketing and distribution of base oils, lubricants and other by-products. One of it products is industrial oil marketed under AVleco brand.

In 2010, Avista processed nearly 100 million gallons of used oil and other oily wastes.According to Kline & Co. consultancy, in 2009 Avista Oil held seven percent share of the global rerefined base oil supply.

Universal Environmental Services and McPherson Combine Used Oil Collection Businesses

September 30, 2011

Peachtree City, GA – Universal Environmental Services, LLC (“UES”) and The McPherson Companies’ used oil collection business (“TMC”) have merged, becoming the dominant used oil collector in the Southeastern United States. With a fleet of more than 70 collection trucks and 21 terminals, the new entity covers from North Carolina to Louisiana and from Georgia to southern Ohio.”

UES has merged with TMC as part of its effort to expand its collection footprint in connection with the construction and operation of a used oil re-refinery in Peachtree City, Georgia. “There are substantial synergies between the two companies and, above all, both companies share a fundamental common conviction that we should re-refine our collected used oil into high quality base oil” said UES’ CEO Juan Fritschy. “TMC has a well established used oil collection network, which was nurtured and developed inside the McPherson family of businesses. The UES team, along with its German parent company AVISTA OIL AG (the biggest used oil re refiner in Europe), welcomes its new partner.”

Ken McPherson, President of The McPherson Companies, said, “We recognize that re-refining is the right long term strategy and, for a long time, we have been evaluating partnerships with re-refiners. We are glad to announce our partnership with UES and Avista. They have a solid business model and proven technology in three countries and many operational years in the re-refining business.”

Mr. Fritschy added, “We are excited to add TMC’s experienced and dedicated employees to the UES team. Furthermore, Mr. Ken McPherson will be a board member of the new entity bringing to the company all his experience and customer relationships. TMC and UES customers can continue to expect the highest quality of service and attention from our extended team of expert staff.”

“In the meantime, the building of our 30 million gallon re-refinery is on time and we are scheduled to be complete by the first quarter of 2013. In several production runs in our European re-refineries (using American used oil), we tested the re-refinery set-up that we will be using in the United States and obtained excellent quality base oil.”

Contact details:
Mr. Juan Fritschy, CEO
411 Dividend Drive
Peachtree City, GA 30269
Direct: (770) 357 0183
E-mail: jfritschy@universalenviro.com

Universal Environmental Services Closes Financing for the Construction of a Used Oil Re-refinery in Peachtree City, Georgia

June 28, 2011

Peachtree City, GA – Universal Environmental Services, LLC (“UES”) believes in a brighter energy future for the used oil industry and the region. UES has signed definitive documentation and closed on a financing commitment of up to $52 million for the engineering, construction and commissioning of a used oil re-refinery in Peachtree City, GA. Together with the capital from its recently announced joint venture with AVISTA OIL AG (“AVISTA”), the financing will be sufficient to complete the company’s planned state-of-the-art re-refinery with an input capacity of 30 Million gallons by the first quarter of 2013. UES will service its customers with the highest possible quality products, while preserving natural resources and the environment.

UES and its project partner, Mineralöl-Raffinerie Dollbergen GmbH (“MRD”), member of the AVISTA OIL Group, have completed basic engineering and will finalize detailed engineering by October 2011. Site preparation will begin immediately, with construction to begin in early November 2011. The company has been granted local permits and licenses for the construction on the premises of its 10 acre Peachtree City facility.

MRD maintains an engineering department that is experienced in the design of industrial facilities for the environmental sector. The same group of engineers that engineered, built, and commissioned the MRD and DOG (Dansk Olie Genbrug A/S – AVISTA’s state of the art used oil re-refinery in Denmark) re-refineries will be in charge of the Peachtree City project. The new re-refinery will include, among other supplementary facilities, MRD’s patented Enhanced Selective Refining technology to produce high-quality base oils. The quality of these base oils are superior to the quality of base oils produced out of crude oils in many properties, including Viscosity Index, PAH, and Noack Volatility.

“We are extremely pleased to have the financing behind us so that we can get to the important work of building our re-refinery and servicing our used oil customers,” said CEO Juan Fritschy. “We are confident that our partners at AVISTA, MRD, and all subcontractors involved will help us successfully engineer and deploy a state-of-the-art re-refinery right here in Georgia. In the meantime, our customers can continue to expect the highest quality of service and attention from our expert staff. As a reliable partner, we will service our customers until the re-refinery is built, and offer them convenient alternative solutions once the expanded facility is operational”. Mr. Fritschy continued: “Our aim is to preserve the environment and a valuable resource -base oil-, from being otherwise lost to “energy recovery”. This project will also create new jobs in the Peachtree City community. The time has come to think green, and that’s what UES is doing. We will keep the public updated on this project that’s both exciting and valuable to our region and our country.”

About Universal Environmental Services
Headquartered in Peachtree City, GA, Universal Environmental Services is the southeastern United States’ leading collector and processor of used oil from car dealerships, service stations and other industrial customers. With a fleet of 65 trucks, 4 processing plants and 7 satellite facilities, a storage capacity of 1.6M gallons of used oil and a 2.2M gallon tank at the port of Savannah, UES has the capability to collect and process used lubricants all the way from northern Florida to Ohio.

Contact details:
Mr. Juan Fritschy, CEO
411 Dividend Drive
Peachtree City, GA 30269
Direct: (770) 357 0183
E-mail: jfritschy@universalenviro.com

About AVISTA OIL Group
The AVISTA OIL Group is Europe’s leading Used Oil Recycling Company. With a successful closed loop business, Avista is the owner of a patented leading-edge re-refining technology, and operates two used oil re-refineries in Europe: Dansk Olie Genbrug A/S (“DOG”) located in Kalundborg, Denmark, and MRD that is located in Dollbergen, Germany. AVISTA brings in more than 60 years of operational experience to UES, with a value chain of collecting and re-refining used oils and oily liquids, and producing high-quality base oils and lubricants. Compared to producing base oils out of virgin oil, re-refining used oils with AVISTA’s technology produces 30% less CO2 emissions. Just recently, AVISTA introduced its green lubricant line, “AVIeco”, to serve environmentally conscious users. The product launch of “AVIeco” in neighboring countries is also planned.

Contact details:
Mr. Bernd Merle, CEO & Chairman of the Board
Bahnhofstr. 82
31311 Uetze-Dollbergen, Germany
Direct: +49 (5177) 85600
E-mail: bernd.merle@avista-oil.com