Orrick Advises Aria Energy on SPAC Merger With Archaea Energy and Rice Acquisition Corp.

Orrick advised Aria Energy on its business combination with Archaea Energy and special purpose acquisition company Rice Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: RICE). On September 16, 2021, Archaea’s Class A common stock and warrants began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols “LFG” and “LFG WS,” respectively.

The business combination was primarily funded by approximately $237 million of cash from RAC’s cash-in-trust, $220 million in proceeds from corporate level debt, and $300 million from the previously announced private investment in public equity (“PIPE). The company also entered into $133 million of project financing in early 2021 related to Project Assai, a high-Btu RNG facility under construction near Scranton, Pennsylvania, which is expected to be completed in 1Q 2022.

The Orrick team advising Aria is led by John Cook and Kristin Seeger and includes Matthew Gemello, Marsha Mogilevich, Mark Weitzel, Kelly Mink, Sean Carfi, Kayla Southworth, Zachary Finley, Jason Flaherty, Peter Elias, Steve Malvey, Sarah Schaedler, Amy Ray, Ashley Walter, Adam Wenner, Cory Lankford, Darrell Thomas, Sue Cowell, Jenée Iyer, Wendy Kottmeier, Qipeng Hu, Allen Davis, Criselda Haro Sandoval and Molly Jergenson.