Eric Javidi, CFO of Archaea Energy, is leaving after ten months with a $2.95 million cash severance. In addition, six weeks ago, the company gave him stock worth $3.6 million that is now fully vested.
No reason was given for his departure. The company has started a search process for his replacement.
Archaea develops, constructs and maintains renewable natural gas facilities (RNG) that capture waste emissions from landfills and converts them into low-grade fuels and electricity.
The company is based in the Galleria area and was taken public in September 2021 by a SPAC based in Pennsylvania, Rice Acquisition Corp. The SPAC actually acquired Archaea LLC for $347 million and Aria Energy LLC for $680 million, with the combined business being renamed Archaea Energy. The stock is trading at around $18, similar to the price when the deal closed.
As an aside, the Rice family are the majority owners of both the SPAC and Archaea LLC.
Mr. Javidi joined Archaea in April 2021, the same month that the deal with the SPAC was announced. He was previously the CEO of Southcross Holdings and a Managing Director at Kayne Anderson Capital. Both companies are primarily involved in energy infrastructure.
Severance and Stock Award
The base salary and employment contract for Mr. Javidi has never been publicly disclosed, so it is not clear how the $2.95 million severance was calculated. We do know that the company awarded Mr. Javidi 140,000 fully vested shares on December 29, 2021. Mr. Javidi promptly sold 55,090 shares for $949,200. He was also awarded 62,750 shares that were due to vest in 2024. With his severance, these are now fully vested.
General Counsel leaving after 7 months
The company also announced that Lindsay Ellis, General Counsel, is also leaving. She has only been with the company since July 2021. No details of her severance were disclosed. She also granted 33,333 restricted shares that have now fully vested, worth $600,000.
The company thanked Mr. Javidi for building out the company’s financial functions and Ms. Ellis for building the legal and HR functions. Undoubtedly, going public at the same time as trying to combine two businesses is a very stressful and complicated affair. It’s not clear what went wrong.
SEC filing – Archaea CFO departure
Archaea Investor Presentation – April 21