It was announced last week that Metech Recycling has been acquired by First America Management Group (who are associated with First America Metal Corp out of Illinois). Readers may remember that name–Metech Recycling–from several articles that were published last year, including one posted on this website. To quickly recap, after losing profits in 2015, 2016 and 2018, as well as violating the federal CRT rule and temporarily losing their R2 certification, Metech announced last September that it planned to sell its struggling recycling business to two of its own executives for around 1 U.S. dollar.
That deal was never finalized, however, and instead all shares of Metech Recycling were sold to First America Management Group for $300,000–quite a jump from the initial one-dollar price tag. What is more interesting, though, is that Metech’s own Proposed Disposal declared the value of the company, according to an Independent Valuer, to be nil. Even Les Bury, president of First America Metal, when speaking to E-Scrap News, noted that the $300,000 purchase price “reflects Metech Recycling’s intangible value in its team, contacts and locations served. However, on a pure assets basis, company liabilities offset the value of equipment.”
Many readers may be shaking their heads right now, and they aren’t alone. After all, how can a company absorb its customers’ liability when its own liability offsets its value?
For those looking to paint a picture of the current ITAD/Recycling market, perhaps one of the biggest challenges in doing so is the ever-changing landscape. Companies come and go, often times leaving behind bewildered and frustrated customers. How many of these customers thought they were working with reputable vendors, only to later learn that said vendors had failed to obtain/maintain certification or engaged in questionable business practices? What ought to be a mutually beneficial relationship can quickly sour when processors fail to live up to their end of the deal.
Enter the team at Advanced Technology Recycling (ATR), a company that’s been in the electronic recycling industry for over 15 years and the technology industry since the early 90s. The owners of ATR are known for keeping a finger on the Industry’s pulse: at the helm daily, they take note of the trends and consistently lead the way in effective asset management and disposal.
