Dive Brief:
- Missouri-based Meridian Waste Solutions Inc. has announced a public offering of 3 million shares of common stock and warrants to purchase 3 million shares of common stock on Jan. 24, worth an expected $12.39 million, as reported by Waste Today.
- The common stock will be listed under MRDN and the warrants will be listed under MRDNW on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The offering is expected to close on Jan. 30.
- Meridian plans to use the money for capital expenditures such as trucks and equipment to handle new business, tuck-in acquisitions and repayment of debt.
Dive Insight:
Meridian currently services more than 65,000 customers in the St. Louis market. Its operations include one municipal solid waste landfill, three transfer stations and a fleet of commercial, residential and roll-off trucks.
That footprint will soon expand once Meridian begins serving an additional 20,000 residential customers in St. Louis in April. This is the latest in a series of local contract awards and acquisitions since the company, formerly known as Brooklyn Cheesecake and Dessert Company, officially became Meridian Waste Solutions in 2015. CEO Jeff Cosman previously worked for Republic Services and his father had a long career in the waste industry.
At a time when smaller companies are being acquired by multinational operations at a regular pace, it's encouraging to see small-to-medium operations move forward with public offerings. One of the most notable recent examples was an IPO from Advanced Disposal Services, a much larger waste company, last fall.
