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Fairlead’s Energy and Infrastructure Experience

Over the last 10 years Fairlead has supported over 20 energy companies with business planning, executive management, restructuring services, and strategic exits. Our deep industry experience and relationships in electric power and oil & gas enable us to serve our clients with the knowledge and wisdom that comes from decades of encountering and overcoming obstacles to success.

  • On behalf of a fund manager, engaged to oversee an oil field services Company with over $300M in annual revenues. In addition to a role on the Board of Directors, Fairlead placed a CFO and Controller into company to revise and execute a new business plan in response to falling oil and gas commodity prices. Fairlead’s resources developed new and actionable reporting for the company, revamped its overall financial reporting process, and assisted the company in refinancing its existing debt.
  • Engaged by a fund manager to assess a proposed investment into a small portfolio of North American biomass plants totaling 60 MW. After the acquisition, Fairlead was engaged to oversee the investment, which grew through acquisitions into a 145 MW portfolio of biomass assets. Fairlead worked with management to develop comprehensive monthly reporting, held a seat on the Board of Directors, and provided direct support in the operations of the company.
  • Engaged to evaluate and assess a German-based biomass and cogeneration platform company. Following the initial assessment, Fairlead was retained to oversee the company and implement a revised business plan tailored to match changes in Germany’s Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) program. Fairlead subsequently managed the sale of the company to two separate German buyers.
  • Engaged to oversee investment in recently built 25 MW geothermal plant in Nevada. As the investor’s representative and chair of a subcommittee of the Board of Directors, Fairlead orchestrated the production of actionable operating reporting that facilitated a shift in the investor group’s understanding of the investment. Fairlead subsequently managed the sale of the plant to NYC-based private equity group.
  • Engaged to assess the valuation and prospects for a waste-to-energy platform investment built around a U.S.-based 3,000 ton-per-day waste-to-energy plant. Following the initial assessment, Fairlead was engaged to revamp the financial reporting of the investment. Based on Fairlead’s industry and technical knowledge of the waste-to-energy industry and corresponding recommendations, the investor-group scaled back its financial commitments to the investment.
  • Retained by a fund manager to represent them on the Board of a publicly traded retail gas and electricity provider with 250,000 customers across the U.S. Fairlead subsequently worked with the Board and Management to sell the company to a large electric utility.

Fairlead’s Venture-Stage Experience

Over the last 5 years Fairlead has supported over 10 venture-stage companies with business planning, executive management, fundraising, and strategic exits. We helped raise Seed, Series A, and Series B financings and have an extensive database of venture-stage investors to support future fundraising efforts. Selective venture-Stage experience includes:

  • Provided strategic planning and CEO services for Nirenberg Neuroscience LLC, a computer-vision focused AI company based in New York City. While working with NN’s founder, Dr. Sheila Nirenberg, raised seed financing and then negotiated a lucrative license agreement with Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) to provide human‑like vision to Ford’s autonomous car development program.
  • Organized and led the recapitalization of Luminoso Technologies, an AI company that provides proprietary natural language understanding to its customers. Subsequently, raised $10M Series B financing from new investors and, while providing CEO services, designed a new business plan, built a high volume lead generation and inside sales team that grew ARR by a factor of 2.6x, cut fixed costs by 25%, and in 2020 was named to the annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing companies.
  • Provide CFO/COO services to Discourse Analytics, an AI-powered “nudge” technology driving retention rates among universities and financial institutions. Currently working through the arrangement of bridge financing in preparation of a Series A Financing.
  • Provided back-office accounting services to several VC-backed companies on both interim and ongoing engagements.
  • Engaged by Sensemetrics, a VC-backed San Diego-based industrial IoT company to advise on corporate governance, business planning, fundraising , and subsequent sale of the company in May 2021
  • Engaged by PingThings, a data analytics software company that provides data visualization and machine-learning tools to the utility industry. We serve on the Board and helped the company raise $1.2M in bridge financing while the company prepares for a future Series A financing.
  • Engaged by Core Motors to assess viability and develop a business plan. Subsequently provided CEO services and focused the company on market assessment, business plan development, and fundraising.
  • Served as Acting-CEO for Bionic Sight, a biotech company working to commercialize a prosthetic device to restore sight for certain types of blindness. We led the negotiations of a Collaboration Agreement between Bionic Sight and Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq:AGTC) to finance the company through Phase I clinical trials.

Fairlead’s District Energy Experience

  • Financial analysis and refinancing of the five district energy systems owned by NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG). NRG’s systems included in this financing are in Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, San Diego, and Harrisburg.
  • Led the restructuring, merger, and $50 million recapitalization of Detroit Thermal in a complex three‑way merger and recapitalization among Detroit Thermal, a nearby waste‑to‑energy plant and a portfolio company of Atlas Holdings.
  • Acquisition and reconfiguration of Sempra district heating and cooling assets in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
  • Acquisition and expansion of Atlantic Station district cooling plant in Atlanta, GA. Led negotiations with the anchor customers for two large district energy systems including the University of Pennsylvania and the Detroit Medical Center.
  • Provided interim management services, customer negotiations, and advisory services for Akron Thermal.
  • University of Maryland College Park - Financed, constructed, and operated a 26 MW cogeneration system, campus-wide electric distribution system, and new 8,000‑ton central chilled water plant. Revenue bond financing ($130 million) was provided by Maryland Economic Development Corporation.
  • Washington Convention Center Authority - Developed, financed, constructed, and operated the central plant for the 3 million square-foot convention center. The plant included 10,000 tons of cooling. Financing was provided through Convention Center Authority revenue bonds.
  • Thomas Jefferson University - Developed and constructed a 7,000‑ton chilled water system to serve TJU’s campus with Trigen’s central steam plant under the terms of a 30-year chilled water supply agreement.
  • Inner Harbor East Development - Greenfield development, construction, and operation of hot water, 15,000‑ton chilled water, and cogeneration plant to serve a multi-use development in Baltimore, Maryland.
  • Kansas City - Developed and installed a 15,000‑ton chilled water system serving downtown Kansas City Mo. The system included the lease of city-owned chillers during the development of the system.
  • Tulsa - Expanded a chilled water system acquired from the local gas utility from 5,000 tons to over 20,000 tons.
  • Oklahoma City - Expanded a chilled water system acquired from the local gas utility from 9,000 tons to 18,000 tons.
  • Retained to oversee and represent a fund manager’s position in a critical waste-management and district energy infrastructure project in Detroit. Fairlead was asked to lead complicated 5-party negotiations with the city, electric utility, and other owners, which resulted in the legal, financial, and operational consolidation of the district energy and waste management components. Fairlead combination of technical, operational, financial, and industry skills facilitated a comprehensive solution that preserved a critical part of Detroit’s infrastructure.

Fairlead's Industrial Processing Experience

Over the last 9 years, the Fairlead team has delivered strategic managerial and financial services to industrial process companies.

  • Served as CRO for Niotan, Inc., a Nevada-based specialty chemical manufacturer. Fairlead led the turnaround and subsequent sale of the company to Kemet (NYSE:KEM) for $80M.
  • Following Fairlead’s assessment of a Texas-based producer of frac sand for the oil & gas industry with over $40M in annual sales, Fairlead was engaged to oversee the execution of the company’s revised business plan and financial reporting processes. Fairlead subsequently managed the $100M sale of the company to an industry competitor.
  • Engaged to assess the technical and market prospects for an activated carbon producer in Hawaii. Following Fairlead’s assessment, the investor group engaged Fairlead to oversee the company and limit their financial commitments to the investment.
  • Following on an evaluation that Fairlead was retained to perform on a Brazilian-based junior miner, Fairlead was engaged to work with local management to develop the mine at a pilot scale while engaging with industry participants to finance the commercialization of the mine. Fairlead provided ongoing updates and reporting to the investor group on the company’s performance.
  • Engaged to assess and redevelop a business plan for a Colorado‑based manufacturer of small-engine motors, oversaw the implementation of that plan, and revamped the reporting for its venture capital owners.
  • Fairlead was retained to oversee a Florida-based developer of an innovative and high-quality fertilizer derived from waste material. Fairlead worked with the management team to attract additional financing and the company is now operating a plant designed to produce 80,000 tons of fertilizer annually.

Fairlead Team Members are Prepared

To lead organizations, manage teams, bring functional and industry expertise to the table, make decisions, and act as individual contributors.

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