GCEH- Just formed Joint Venture With two Billionaires!
Global Clean Energy Holdings Forms Joint Venture With Accomplished Agricultural & Alternative Energy Entrepreneurs. The Venture to Acquire and Develop Land in Mexico to Grow Jatropha Trees.
LOS ANGELES, Apr 30, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: GCEH) announced today that it has formed a 50-50 joint venture with Los Angeles Businessmen Stewart A. Resnick and Selim K. Zilkha, both highly accomplished entrepreneurs who have developed successful agricultural & alternative energy companies. The joint venture's mission is to acquire and develop non-food based land in Mexico to grow Jatropha curcas and commercialize oil and biomass derived from its fruit and seeds. Global Clean Energy Holdings and the joint venture partners have created a wholly-owned Mexican corporation to pursue these acquisition and development activities. Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. will manage the operations of the corporation and expects to consolidate the results for financial reporting purposes.
Under the terms of the joint venture, the investors will provide the capital to acquire the raw land and fund operations. The land the joint venture will plant and grow Jatropha on is non-productive land that has never been used for food production or for other agricultural purposes.
"We are excited that we have been able to form a partnership with two such accomplished and forward thinking executives," said Richard Palmer, Global Clean Energy's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Both Stewart and Selim have built highly successful companies, and we believe that their combined expertise in the agricultural and alternative energy sectors will prove invaluable as we commercialize oil and biomass derived from the seeds of Jatropha curcas."
Mr. Resnick is chairman and owner of Roll International Corporation, a Los Angeles-based holding company, and has developed and owns a number of companies, including Paramount Agribusiness, POM Wonderful, Teleflora, FIJI Water, and Suterra. He is a member of the boards of UCLA Medical Sciences, Bard College in New York, and Conservation International and is a trustee of the California Institute of Technology.
"I am excited to participate in the acquisition and development of Jatropha," said Mr. Resnick. "As somebody who has been actively involved in agribusiness for many years, I recognize the urgent need to develop energy feedstocks from sources that are not involved with the production of food, and we are very encouraged with the potential of Jatropha."
Mr. Zilkha formed Zilkha Renewable Energy, a wind farm developer, in 1998 and sold it to banking giant Goldman Sachs in 2005. Currently he has business interests in Zilkha Biomass Energy, a company developing biomass to electricity solutions in the United States; Socratech, a biotech company that has as its goal the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of a variety of brain disorders; and Laetitia, a vineyard and winery in Arroyo Grande, CA. In 1983, he entered the energy business, starting Zilkha Energy Co., a successful enterprise that explored the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas. The company was sold to Sonat Inc in 1998, which, in turn, was acquired by El Paso Corporation in 1999. In 1960, he founded Mothercare, a retail chain specializing in everything for the mother-to-be and her baby with branches in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States. He sold his interest in Mothercare in 1982.
"I am pleased to participate in this joint venture," added Mr. Zilkha. "As somebody who has been at the forefront of developing alternative energy technologies for many years, I believe the Jatropha plant has the potential to be one of the significant solutions for the energy and environmental issues facing this planet."
About Global Clean Energy Holdings
Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. is an emerging renewable energy company focused on the production of non-food based feedstocks used for the production of biofuels. More information regarding Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. can be found at www.gceholdings.com.
