SEAL BEACH, CA --- Clean Energy Fuels Corp. has entered into an agreement with American Honda Motor Co. and the FuelMaker Trust to acquire FuelMaker Corp. of Toronto, Canada for $17 million in cash. The acquisition is expected to be completed within 25 days.
FuelMaker manufactures, distributes, installs and services vehicle refueling appliances (VRA) and accessories for fueling vehicles powered by compressed natural gas (CNG). The consumer version of the VRA is the Phill, a home refueling device that compresses natural gas from the home gas line for fueling vehicles. Recent prices for consumers using the Phill at home in Southern California were as low as $1.60 per gallon.
"The new era of high fuel prices has created a dramatic increase in demand for lower-cost natural gas fueling in all transportation sectors, ranging from trucking to consumers," said Andrew Littlefair, Clean Energy president and CEO. "Due to the greater worldwide acceptance of light-duty natural gas vehicles, we are broadening our strategic focus to offer fueling solutions for small fleets and consumers. With the Phill unit, customers can fill up at home as well as at stations. This acquisition also continues our business expansion outside the United States where natural gas vehicle use has risen dramatically to more than 8,000,000 vehicles worldwide."
Clean Energy has the resources and expertise to broadly market the Phill home refueling appliance, and Honda believes that this transaction will serve to further enhance the convenience and attractiveness of natural gas as an alternative fuel to consumers, said Dan Bonawitz, American Honda vice president of corporate planning and logistics.
The proprietary FuelMaker system for small fleet and home fueling is certified by gas associations in Canada, Germany, Russia, Australia, Japan and Argentina, as well as the European Economic Community and the United States. FuelMaker has 18 U.S. patents and patent applications and 75 international patents and patent applications for natural gas compression technology.
Clean Energy is a major provider of natural gas (CNG and LNG) for transportation in North America. It has a broad customer base in the refuse, transit, ports, shuttle, taxi, trucking, airport and municipal fleet markets. Clean Energy fuels more than 14,000 vehicles daily at strategic locations across the United States and Canada.
