Bridgeport Biodiesel 2 LLC, a fully permitted, commercial-scale biodiesel refinery with a capacity of 13 MMgy, has retained Equity Partners HG to find an investor or buyer for the company. Bridgeport is one of only four commercial-scale biodiesel refineries in New England, and is the closest biodiesel plant to the largest mandated market (New York City) in the Eastern U.S.

The refinery is located in an ecotechnology park in Bridgeport, Connecticut, just 50 miles north of New York City. Commissioned in 2017, the plant produced 220,000 gallons of on-spec biodiesel from used cooking oil (UCO) and generated and sold RINs. While the primary feedstock is UCO, Bridgeport can also produce biodiesel from a variety of used and virgin vegetable oils and animal fats. In addition, the company also produces marketable glycerin as a coproduct and recycles all methanol used in the process.

“During production last summer, a somewhat untested esterification process created a severe bottleneck in the facility’s output and limited production to 20,000 gallons a week,” said Brent Baker, CEO of Bridgeport. “This was well below the production level needed to break even and with limited working capital, we would not be able to sustain losses from operations or replace the reactor. We determined the only option was to cease operations until the reactor could be replaced and filed Chapter 11 to facilitate this process. We are eager to exit bankruptcy properly capitalized and restart operations.”

Matt LoCascio, a managing director at Equity Partners HG, said, “This is an excellent opportunity to invest in or purchase a fully permitted biodiesel refinery that features an automated, continuous-flow process production train and manufactures biodiesel fuel from a variety of fats and oils.”  

Equity Partners HG, based outside Baltimore, Maryland, provides investment banking services and has completed in excess of 500 engagements throughout the United States since 1988.