Universal Environmental Services and McPherson Combine Used Oil Collection Businesses

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga., Oct. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Environmental Services, LLC ("UES") and The McPherson Companies' used oil collection business ("TMC") have merged, becoming the dominant used oil collector in the Southeastern United States. With a fleet of more than 70 collection trucks and 21 terminals, the new entity covers from North Carolina to Louisiana and from Georgia to southern Ohio."

UES has merged with TMC as part of its effort to expand its collection footprint in connection with the construction and operation of a used oil re-refinery in Peachtree City, Georgia. "There are substantial synergies between the two companies and, above all, both companies share a fundamental common conviction that we should re-refine our collected used oil into high quality base oil," said UES' CEO Juan Fritschy. "TMC has a well established used oil collection network, which was nurtured and developed inside the McPherson family of businesses. The UES team, along with its German parent company AVISTA OIL AG (the biggest used oil re-refiner in Europe), welcomes its new partner."

Ken McPherson, President of The McPherson Companies, said, "We recognize that re-refining is the right long term strategy and, for a long time, we have been evaluating partnerships with re-refiners. We are glad to announce our partnership with UES and AVISTA. They have a solid business model and proven technology in three countries and many operational years in the re-refining business."

Mr. Fritschy added, "We are excited to add TMC's experienced and dedicated employees to the UES team. Furthermore, Mr. Ken McPherson will be a board member of the new entity bringing to the company all his experience and customer relationships. TMC and UES customers can continue to expect the highest quality of service and attention from our extended team of expert staff."

"In the meantime, the building of the re-refinery is on time and we are scheduled to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2013. In several production runs in our European re-refineries (using American used oil), we tested the re-refinery set-up that we will be using in the United States and obtained excellent quality base oil."

SOURCE The McPherson Companies, Inc.