Open To Consultation
Where to turn when your money-raising dilemma is more than you can face alone
William Tuorto, founder and chair of Global Eco-Logical Services
Inc. in Atlanta, accomplished more during the first six months of
this year than many entrepreneurs achieve in a lifetime. While most
29-year-olds are building Internet firms by cobbling together bits,
bytes and strategic partnerships, he has staked his claim in the
gritty business of solid-waste management.
Global Eco-Logical's genesis was actually industry
consolidation among the big boys. "Because of the
mergers," says Tuorto, "they got in what some could argue
was a monopoly situation. They had to divest, and that opened the
mid-Atlantic and the Northeast regions for us."
In rapid fire, Tuorto went on a little acquisition binge of his
own. Starting in December 1998, he lined up seven waste management
companies located primarily in New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania
and bought them all in a single transaction, allowing him to
provide near complete vertical integration from hauling to landfill
operations to waste treatment. Six months later, he bought two
more, giving him a company that, from a standing start, had grown
to $10 million in annualized revenues. But Tuorto isn't done.
"The end game," he says, "is to build a $200 million
company that is 100 percent vertically integrated by
2001."
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Tuorto's financing plan wasn't any easier. The aggregate
purchase price of the initial companies was $7 million, which was
financed with cash, plus notes that were convertible into shares of
Global Eco-Logical. To make those shares the kind of currency
sellers would accept, he had to get cash into the company and get
it public, which he did with the help of New York City financing
consultant Source Capital Partners. "The transaction was
complex, with lots of moving parts," says Tuorto. "To get
it done, I knew I needed help."
David R. Evanson's newest book about raising capital is
called Where to Go When the Bank Says No: Alternatives for
Financing Your Business(Bloomberg Press). Call (800)233-4830 for
ordering information. Art Beroff, a principal of Beroff Associates
in Howard Beach, New York, helps companies raise capital and go
public.
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