Altra Inc., a National Integrated Biofuels Company, Attracts Significant Investors.LOS ANGELES -- Altra Inc., a California-based developer of renewable fuel products announced today that prominent private equity firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), Omninet Private Equity, LLC (Omninet) and Sage Capital Partners, L.P. (Sage) along with two leading private equity funds focused on high growth companies in the energy sector -- Angeleno Group, LLC and Khosla Ventures -- are now lead investors in the company. Founded in 2004, Altra is led by seasoned business leaders and veterans of the biofuels and energy industries. Altra acquires, develops and operates a portfolio of renewable energy projects throughout the United States. Altra is specifically focused on the production and sale of ethanol and biodiesel fuels that can help meet the world's growing energy demands as it faces shrinking petroleum supplies that come from unstable regions of the globe. Political instability and increased world petroleum consumption have caused a corresponding rapid growth in the global demand for alternative and renewable fuels, which Altra believes will ultimately and permanently alter the dynamics of world energy markets. With the biofuel industry growing faster than 20% per year for the past five years, renewable fuels are increasingly cost competitive with fossil fuels and are viewed as a necessary alternative as conventional fuel additives such as MTBE are phased out for environmental reasons. In the summer of 2005, as oil prices crossed the of $60+ per barrel mark, the U.S. Congress passed a sweeping Energy Bill that provided sizeable mandates to adopt renewable fuels. "The increasing global demands for petroleum products, combined with regulatory pressures for reduced pollutant energy sources, will guide significant sectors of the energy markets toward increased reliance on products derived from corn, soy beans and other naturally grown elements. The ongoing increase in petroleum prices has caught the attention of almost every American, from The White House to Main Street," said Larry Gross, CEO of Altra. "Forward thinking, well capitalized investors like Sage, Omninet, KPCB, Angeleno and Khosla Ventures recognize this trend and realize that biofuels are not only the primary solution, but just may be the only immediately viable alternative for the mass market." In making the announcement, Altra stated that it will immediately accelerate the company's current phase of strategic projects and continue execution of its strategy to build several hundred million gallons of biofuel production capacity through the acquisition of existing operating assets and development of strategically located permitted facilities across the nation with state of the art biofuel refining technology. Altra is led by a world-class management team of experienced business leaders and entrepreneurs which include: CEO Larry Gross, Chief Operating Officer Russ Zeeck, VP of Technology Adrian Galvez, and Chief Financial Officer Fred Krupica. Mr. Gross has 20 years' experience building and leading high-growth companies. He was the former CEO of Knowledge Adventure and Vice Chairman of Idealab. Mr. Zeeck has 12 years' experience in the biofuels industry. He managed the building and operations of biofuels plants for Delta-T and AGP Processing. He also developed ethanol projects for Baard Energy. Mr. Galvez with 25 years of experience will be heading up West Coast operations and managing the company's R&D efforts. He was the VP of Technology and Technical Services at Delta-T and spent 7 years with Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) as a plant operations manager. Mr. Krupica is a 30-year finance veteran who most recently was CFO of Fastclick (NASDAQ:FSTC) where he successfully led its IPO in March 2005. Prior to that he was with Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO) for 13 years and earlier was with PriceWaterhouseCoopers. About Altra Inc. Formed in 2004 as Malibu Capital Partners, Inc., Altra has been in the business of acquiring and developing a portfolio of renewable energy projects throughout the United States specifically focused on the production and sale of ethanol and biodiesel. Altra intends to become the leading integrated biofuels company in the U.S., employing state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, processing technologies and customer service disciplines, and positioned as a critical biofuels supplier to petroleum companies and other significant end-users in all key geographic markets. For more information, visit, www.altrabiofuels.com. About Omninet Private Equity Omninet Private Equity seeks capital appreciation primarily through control-oriented or significant-influence positions in lower middle market growth companies with sales ranging from $15 million to $150 million in the Western United States. Over the past 25 years, Omninet has invested in numerous manufacturing and business service companies in the United States and Europe. Omninet Private Equity is an affiliate of Omninet Capital, LLC, a diversified investment firm concentrating in the fields of private equity, venture capital and real estate. For more information, visit, www.omninet.com. About Sage Capital Partners, L.P. Sage Capital Partners, L.P. is a private equity investment firm with committed capital that seeks to invest in middle-market companies. Sage Capital Partners actively pursues investment opportunities across several industry sectors, including consumer products, business services and manufacturing. Investors in Sage Capital Partners include financiers, top executives, and founders of successful companies representing a broad spectrum of industries. Sage Capital Partners is the private equity arm of The Sage Group, LLC; a Los Angeles-based investment bank with a national focus on brand-driven enterprises and middle market companies with valuations of $50 million to $1 billion. For more information, visit, www.sagecappartners.com. About Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) is a world leader in providing relationship and venture capital SM services to entrepreneurs. Since its founding in 1972, KPCB has backed entrepreneurs in over 450 ventures, including AOL, Align Technology, Amazon.com, Citrix, Compaq Computer, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Genomic Health, Google, IDEC Pharmaceuticals, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Netscape, Lotus, LSI Logic, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, Verisign and Xilinx. More than 150 of the firm's portfolio companies have gone public. Many other ventures have achieved success through mergers and acquisitions. For more information, visit, www.kpcb.com. About Angeleno Group, LLC Angeleno Group is a Los Angeles-based private equity firm focused on high-growth investments in the energy sector. Angeleno makes investments broadly across the energy industry to support innovative, well-managed early to expansion stage companies. Areas of particular interest include: advanced generation and power quality, renewables, energy intelligence and control, transmission and distribution, power storage and advanced fuel technologies. Investors in AG funds include leading endowments and foundations, nationally recognized family offices and former CEO's and board members of some of the country's most prominent energy companies. For more information, visit, www.angelenogroup.com. About Khosla Ventures Khosla Ventures delivers venture assistance, strategic advice and capital to entrepreneurs. Vinod Khosla is widely recognized as one of Silicon Valley's most successful investors and was recently labeled by Fortune as one of the nation's most influential ethanol advocates. Vinod and several partners founded Khosla Ventures in 2005 to help entrepreneurs develop new businesses that extend the potential of the Internet and to support breakthrough scientific work in areas from bio refineries to new semiconductors. The firm's capital comes entirely from its own partners and a portion of all profits are donated to charitable causes, with an emphasis on micro-finance and affordable housing. Khosla Ventures is based in Menlo Park, California, and can be reached at info@khoslaventures.com. |
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