Rice Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), has announced an agreement with Aria Energy and Archaea Energy to create a renewable natural gas (RNG) platform in the United States. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2021 and the combined company will be listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “LFG”. The SPAC reported that it will be the leading United States’ platform for harnessing natural gas. It aims to capture and convert waste emissions from landfills and anaerobic digesters into low-carbon RNG, electricity, and green hydrogen.
As per the deal, Aria energy is being acquired for $680 million and brings a comprehensive portfolio of operational landfill gas (LFG assets) and a deep inventory of greenfield LFG-to-RNG projects and electric-to-RNG conversion opportunities. Archaea LLC is being acquired for $347 million and also has a deep inventory of LFG-to-RNG projects including the world’s largest RNG plant currently under construction called “Project Assai”. The combined company will have over $350 million of cash on the balance sheet which will offer liquidity to fund its pipeline of development projects.
Rice Acquisition Corp is a special purpose acquisition company focused on the energy transition sector. Though the company also pursues acquisition opportunities in any business industry or sector, it plans to focus on supply-side solutions and innovations that enable the economy to decarbonize in sectors that include renewable fuels, sustainable chemical production and feedstocks, carbon capture, utilization and storage technology, and equipment, applications, infrastructure and technology focused on reducing the carbon intensity of fuels, energy production methods, and industrial processes.