RiverRidge Recycling: BGF buys £10m stake in NI waste firm

RiverRidge is Northern Ireland's biggest independent waste firm

An investment fund has bought a £10m stake in RiverRidge Recycling, a waste management firm based in Coleraine, County Londonderry.

The Business Growth Fund, set up by the UK's five big banks, invests up to £10m to take minority stakes in firms.

RiverRidge is Northern Ireland's biggest independent waste firm.

It will use the investment to support its growth strategy and develop its existing treatment and operations infrastructure.

RiverRidge is the primary developer of the Energy-from-Waste facility which is being built to provide power to the Bombardier's wing factory in Belfast.

That £107m project, which is nearing completion, was co-financed by Green Investment Bank, Equitix and P3P Partners.

Brett Ross, managing director of RiverRidge, said the new investment is "a significant endorsement" of the business.

The Business Growth Fund (BGF) was set up in 2011.

The deal is its second Northern Ireland project after its investment made in Derry-based house-builder Braidwater in 2015.

Paddy Graham from BGF said the fund is "keen to meet ambitious entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland".

Following the deal, Jim Meredith, chairman of Augean Plc, one of the UK's leading specialist hazardous waste management businesses, has co-invested alongside BGF and has been appointed by RiverRidge as non-executive chairman.

Mr Graham will also join the board of the company.