Bus tycoon snaps up stake in Scottish biodiesel firm

Stagecoach founder, Brian Souter

The founder of one of the UK's largest bus companies has delivered a vote of confidence in the emerging biofuel sector, shelling out an undisclosed sum to acquire a stake in Scottish biodiesel company Argent Energy.

Brian Souter, the boss of Stagecoach, used his family investment firm Souter Investments to purchase the company from its private equity owners as part of a Scottish consortium also containing senior management at the firm.

The deal builds on an existing relationship between Stagecoach and Argent, which has seen the firm provide the bus operator with biodiesel made from animal fat and used cooking oil for the past two years.

Under the innovative scheme, households along a bus route have been provided with containers to collect their used cooking oil, which they can then exchange for discounted bus tickets. The fat is then shipped to Argent's refinery near Glasgow where it is turned into biodiesel.

Jim Walker, managing director at Argent Energy and one of the new shareholders, said that the company's plant was now running near capacity and that the new backers would help it to continue to expand its operations.

"Our latest investment is in a new facility at our Motherwell plant to prepare tallow and used cooking oil for use in the biodiesel production process, " he said. "This is nearing completion and will expand and improve our locally sourced raw material supply and create around 15 new jobs."

He also hinted that the company could be looking to explore other renewable energy technologies, noting that the new investors were keen on "developing new opportunities in the waste to energy sector".