Rice Acquisition Corp. (RICE) Shareholders Approve Aria Energy and Archaea Energy Deal

Rice Acquisition Corp. (NYSE:RICE) announced in an 8-K filing today that its shareholders approved its combination with renewable natural gas companies Aria Energy and Archaea Energy at a meeting held earlier today.

The filing disclosed that only 46,972 shares were redeemed in connection to the business combination, which means just 0.2% will be removed from the trust. The business combination was overwhelmingly approved with 25,395,263 votes in favor of it. RICE rose 6.81% today, and closed at $18.51 following the meeting. The stock has continued to climb in after market hours, and is currently up by 6.49% at $19.70.

The transaction is expected to close on September 15. The combined company will be named Archaea Energy Inc., and its common stock and warrants will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “LFG” and “LFG.WS,” respectively.

Rice initially announced its $1.15 billion deal with Aria and Archaea on April 8. Archaea and Aria each harvest gases from landfills to refine into green energy sources for electricity or natural gas replacements.

All other proposals at today’s meeting were approved.  For a full list of tallies and proposals, click HERE.

ADVISORS

• Moelis & Company LLC acted as financial advisor to the Special Committee.
• Richards, Layton and Finger PA served as legal counsel to the Special Committee.
• Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to RAC.
• Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP served as legal counsel to Archaea LLC.
• Barclays acted as financial advisor to Aria.
• Orrick served as legal counsel to Aria and Ares.
• Citi and Jefferies LLC acted as lead placement agents and Roth Capital Partners LLC acted as co-placement agent on the PIPE.