Innovation Fuels And Arpadis Agree To Launch Innovation Fuels Europe

New York — Innovation Fuels and Arpadis Group SA announced plans to launch a joint venture company, Innovation Fuels Europe, to market and distribute biodiesel into the European market. The companies said they have signed a term sheet, and expect to complete all definitive documents with respect to the joint venture before the end of this April.

John Fox, CEO of Innovation Fuels, and Laurent Abergel, Managing Director and Chairman of the Board of Arpadis Group, said: "This is a great step forward for both our companies that will serve as the basis for our marketing and sales into the European market."

Arpadis Group, a Belgium-based holding company focused on chemical distribution and custom processing, is a major European distributor of biodiesel and glycerin. The company acts an intermediary in the distribution of chemical products between producers and processors or users. It has seven offices and three custom processing plants in Europe, and is building a custom processing plant in China.

Innovation Fuels is a rapidly emerging, US-based renewable fuel company that manufactures, markets, and distributes biodiesel fuel to customers around the world. A top-tier global investment bank and large institutional investors have provided financing for the company, which is headquartered in New York.

Innovation Fuels has a regional focus on the East Coast market with a global reach, a mission to be a vertically integrated, dominant producer of renewable, environmentally friendly fuels, and a verified 40 million gallon a year refinery located in New York Harbor. It recently acquired North American Biodiesel, a company that was founded two years ago for the purpose of developing a biodiesel production facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The acquisition provides Innovation Fuels with direct, deep-water international access via a leasehold at the Port of Milwaukee, which is located on the western shore of Lake Michigan.

Europe has emerged as a strong market for US biodiesel producers. A combination of factors, including European Union usage mandates outstripping EU production capacity, and the relative weakness of the dollar against the euro, have spurred imports of high-quality biodiesel made from vegetable oil.

Innovation Fuels Biodiesel meets both the European EN 14214 and domestic ASTM D6751 specifications. The company recently became the first biodiesel producer in the Northeast to earn BQ-9000 Accreditation from the National Biodiesel Board and the National Biodiesel Accreditation Committee.

SOURCE: Innovation Fuels