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Both companies anticipate accelerated growth and increased profitability
Alpharetta, Ga.-based Watershed Geosynthetics LLC has sold a significant controlling interest to Dalton, Ga.-based Shaw Industries, a Berkshire Hathaway Subsidiary, and has entered into a letter of intent to sell controlling interest in Watershed Solar LLC, Watershed Geosynthetics said in a prepared statement. These moves build on the existing long-standing partnership between Shaw and Watershed Geosynthetics, and its founders Mike Ayers and Jose Urrutia. Watershed Geosynthetics and Watershed Solar sell innovative and patented environmental solutions for utility, waste management, erosion control and mining industries. Both companies’ leadership teams will remain in place and continue to lead the business forward.
“We have had a business and financial relationship with Watershed Geosynthetics for ten years,” says Vance Bell, Shaw’s executive chairman. “It is exciting to see how their business has developed and the enormous opportunity they have in the future. Driven by commitments from large utilities, government agencies and global industries, the business is ready to explode.”
Watershed Geosynthetics develops innovative solutions for the protection and resiliency of civil, environmental and energy infrastructures. These widely recognized innovations challenge traditional solutions with systems that are sustainable, low-cost and engineered for extreme performance. Watershed Geosynthetics services the environmental and civil sectors, with customers such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Southern Company, Dow, Rio Tinto, ExxonMobil, Chevron, U.S. Department of Energy, Georgia Pacific, U.S. Department of Defense, public and private waste management facilities, and many others.
Watershed Solar is an early-stage company that provides patented renewable energy solutions. The technology, branded PowerCap, supplies low-profile, high-output solar arrays on top of landfills, coal ash closures and rooftops that utilize Watershed Geosynthetic’s cover technologies. The combination of these innovative solutions turns liabilities into renewable energy assets.
“This additional investment by Shaw provides increased financial strength and operational capability,” says Mike Ayers, CEO at Watershed Geosynthetics and Watershed Solar. “It also represents a meaningful vote of confidence in Watershed Geosynthetics’ mission of improving civil and environmental infrastructure resiliency, while providing significant, tangible environmental benefits for both our customers and the communities we serve.”
“We are bullish about continued growth based on the economic and environmental advantages that we create for our clients,” says Kyle Ehman, president of Watershed Geosyntethics and Watershed Solar. “Just one of our areas of opportunity is converting landfills into solar parks, unlocking value for companies and communities. With Shaw’s further investment, we will accelerate such progress.”
Shaw originally invested in Watershed Geosynthetics in 2011 to infuse capital and diversify the company’s use of its artificial turf manufacturing assets. Shaw is the exclusive provider of turf to Watershed Geo.
“The partnership between Shaw, Watershed Geosynthetics and Watershed Solar is a great example of companies working together based on a set of shared beliefs around the value of our customers, innovation, sustainability and the importance of a growth mindset,” says Tim Baucom, president and CEO at Shaw. “I’m excited to see where the partnership will take us.”