John Laing announces £15.3m acquisition of biogas firm Vulcan Renewables

John Laing Environmental (JLEN) assets group announced on Tuesday its acquisition of Vulcan Renewables for a total consideration of £15.3m, including working capital.

The acquisition, in partnership with Future Biogas, is the company's first foray into the world of anaerobic digestion, a step JLEN saw as an opportunity to further diversify its portfolio of environmental projects that already included wind, solar, waste, and wastewater.

Located in Hatfield Woodhouse, near Doncaster, Vulcan's plant was one of the first commercial biogas-to-grid projects in the UK when it was commissioned in October 2013 and has the capacity of 5MWth and predominately produces bio methane.

Bringing the total capacity of the group's renewable energy assets to 230.2MW, the acquisition was funded by a draw-down on JLEN's revolving credit facility.

Richard Morse, chairman of the firm, said "We are pleased to make our first investment in the anaerobic digestion sector through Vulcan Renewables, a project with a proven operational history. With its RPI-linked RHI and FiT revenue streams, the project adds to the diversification of the JLEN portfolio."

As of 1320 BST, shares had remained flat, up just 0.08% to 107.64p.