CANONSBURG, Pa.--Archaea Energy (“Archaea” or the “Company”), an emerging leader in the development of renewable natural gas (“RNG”), announced today that Eric Javidi has been appointed Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) to lead the Company’s financial operations and strategy and help drive its financial performance and strategic growth. Prior to joining Archaea, Mr. Javidi served as the CFO of CrossAmerica Partners (NYSE: CAPL), a leading wholesale fuels distributor and owner and lessor of real estate in the retail distribution of motor fuels.

With Mr. Javidi’s appointment as CFO, Brian McCarthy, Archaea’s Co-Founder who spearheaded long-term fixed-price arrangements with strategic off-take partners, will transition from the role of CFO and take on the newly created role as Chief Investment Officer (“CIO”). He will continue to lead Archaea’s commercial and investment strategy that has helped shape the vision for Archaea’s future.

“We welcome Eric to our executive team at a time when Archaea is focused on high-value growth opportunities that tap into a backlog of RNG demand, following the recently agreed-upon and announced business combination with Aria Energy led by Rice Acquisition Corp. (RAC),” said Nick Stork, Archaea Energy Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “The breadth and depth of Eric’s financial, operating and investing experience within the energy sector will help us to meet our objectives and deliver shareholder value as we transition Archaea into a world-class publicly traded company. I am thankful to our Co-Founder Brian McCarthy for helping to bring us to this pivotal moment as the Company’s CFO and I am confident that Archaea will continue its trajectory as the preeminent RNG platform in North America with Brian as its CIO.”

Prior to his role at CrossAmerica Partners, Mr. Javidi was the President and CEO of Southcross Holdings GP, LLC, the general partner of Southcross Holdings, LP, an energy infrastructure company that provides natural gas gathering, treating, processing and transportation services. Mr. Javidi managed the business operations of Southcross, which ultimately resulted in the successful divestiture of Southcross Holdings’ assets, extinguishment of its liabilities and the liquidation of Southcross Holdings. Prior to Southcross, Mr. Javidi was a Managing Director at Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, LP, an alternative investment management firm with over $32 billion of assets under management focused on energy infrastructure, real estate, credit, renewables and growth equity. At Kayne, Mr. Javidi sourced, executed and managed public and private equity investments in the energy infrastructure space. He also worked as an investment banker at UBS, Barclays and Lehman Brothers, focusing on mergers and acquisitions and capital markets in the energy infrastructure sector.

Eric Javidi, Archaea Energy CFO stated: “The strategic opportunities for Archaea Energy are tremendous and I am excited to join the Company’s experienced and forward-looking leadership team. The RNG industry has significant tailwinds based on supply and demand dynamics, driven in part by sustainability mandates and initiatives that are creating a pressing need for RNG to further supply an alternative to fossil natural gas. Archaea’s talented and innovative management, technical and operational teams and the backing by the Rice Family puts the Company ahead of the curve as the industry-leading RNG platform in North America.”

Archaea Energy is preparing for exponential growth following the business combination with Aria Energy led by RAC that was announced on April 7, 2021. The business combination is expected to close in Q3 2021 and the combined company, which will be called Archaea Energy, plans to be listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “LFG”. The combined company is a proven and profitable business today with an estimated 2021 EBITDA of $65 million, which is expected to grow to $327 million in 2024. Pro forma for the transaction, the combined company will have over $350 million of cash on the balance sheet, providing ample liquidity to fund its pipeline of development projects and bridging the combined company to free cash flow generation starting in 2023.

Archaea was founded in 2018 by landfill owners and RNG technologists with the goal of building a cost-efficient solution for generating high-BTU RNG projects in the U.S. The Company’s development strategy and industry-leading gas separation expertise enable Archaea to capture and convert LFG emissions with lower development costs and twice as fast. Archaea’s team helped design, build, or develop key gas processing systems for the majority of U.S. RNG facilities in operation today.

About Archaea Energy

Archaea Energy is an emerging leader in developing renewable natural gas from high-carbon emission processes and industries by capturing recurring emissions from food waste, wastewater, agricultural waste and landfill gas. Archaea builds, operates and manages RNG projects throughout the entire energy life cycle and offers off-take partners the opportunity to purchase RNG from Archaea’s portfolio of projects under long-term agreements.