This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
EnergySolutions Inc., the Salt Lake City-based nuclear waste company, said its acquisition by the private equity firm Energy Capital Partners was completed Friday.
As a result, EnergySolutions said it notified the New York Stock Exchange it was withdrawing its common stock from listing.
In a letter to the company's employees, CEO David Lockwood said EnergySolutions was fortunate to have found a strong financial partner to help grow its business in the years ahead.
"In addition to purchasing all the shares of our publicly traded stock" — ECP paid $4.15 cents for each share — "[it] has committed to pay down debt and provide capital to grow our business," Lockwood wrote.
ECP's acquisition closes another chapter in the history of the Utah-grown business, started by Iranian-born entrepreneur Khosrow Semnani.
Initially known as Envirocare of Utah, founder Semnani bought a mile-square plot of state land 25 years ago and turned it into a site where low-level radioactive discards from making atomic weapons and nuclear energy could be buried.
The current management team, the third in four years, will continue to run the company under ECP's ownership.
"It's business as usual for us at Clive [where the disposal site is located] and for the entire company," Mark Walker, EnergySolutions' spokesman, said following the shareholder vote in late April that approved ECP's acquisition.
"This [ownership change] does not change our commitment to the safety of our employees, the general public and the environment," Walker said.
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