Perma-Fix Agrees to Acquire Safety and Ecology Corporation

Compiled by the Waste Age staff.

Perma-Fix Environmental Services Inc. signed a definitive agreement to acquire Safety and Ecology Holdings Corporation (SEC) from Homeland Security Capital Corporation. Under the terms of the agreement, as detailed in a Perma-Fix press release, the Atlanta-based firm will pay Homeland approximately $24.5 million, consisting of $22 million in cash, subject to working capital adjustments, along with a three-year unsecured $2.5 million promissory note, bearing an annual interest rate of 6 percent.

Simultaneous with the closing, certain key management investors of SEC will purchase approximately $1.0 million of Perma-Fix restricted common stock. The purchase price for the stock will be deducted from the cash portion of the purchase price payable to Homeland. Perma-Fix expects to complete the acquisition during the third quarter of 2011.

SEC, headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., specializes in the remediation of nuclear materials for the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Defense, and other federal agencies. The company has more than 450 employees and, based on Homeland's 2010 Form10-K, generated approximately $86 million in revenue and $3.3 million in net income for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2010.

“The acquisition of SEC dramatically expands our nuclear services capabilities,” said Perma-Fix chairman and CEO Louis F. Centofanti, Ph.D., in a press release. “On a combined basis, we can now offer customers, both government and commercial, one of the broadest and most comprehensive end-to-end nuclear waste solutions in the industry. We believe that this expansion of our nuclear service capabilities, coupled with our existing nuclear waste treatment expertise, clearly places us at the forefront of the industry and should enhance our value to our customers and our shareholders. SEC brings a highly qualified management team who we feel will integrate well and complement our current management.”

Perma-Fix was ranked at 32 in the 2011 Waste Age 100.