MI Marshall & Ilsley Corp

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Waste Remedies, a consulting firm that enables companies to outsource waste disposal at sharply lower costs, has received $8.5 million in investment from Advantage Capital Partners, Southwest Bank of St. Louis and management. The funds will be used to establish company management in St. Louis and provide capital for growth. Waste Remedies provides consulting, management and brokerage services for waste removal. For customers that include property managers, manufacturers, retailers and restaurants, Waste Remedies arranges waste removal and recycling at considerably less expense than most companies obtain for themselves, up to 50% less. The company was founded in Illinois 11 years ago but has been managed from California in recent years. With this investment, St. Louis- based interim CEO Tim Gray took control of the company and established its headquarters in Missouri. "This financing enables Waste Remedies to capitalize on two key trends: corporate outsourcing and increased attention for cost-effective recycling and waste management," Gray said. "We could not be more excited about having partners such as Advantage Capital and Southwest Bank backing us, and about having centralized operations in St. Louis." Advantage's $2.3 million portion of the investment was made with private funds raised in connection with the federal New Market Tax Credits program. Advantage has raised more than $100 million to date through this innovative federal initiative, which is designed to stimulate growth and job creation in targeted communities by providing much-needed private investment capital to low-income areas. "The risk capital Advantage brought to this financing made our participation possible," said Gary L. Siddens, Jr., vice president-commercial lending at Southwest Bank. "The New Markets program has mobilized private funds to serve as a catalyst for investments like this one in St. Louis and other communities throughout the nation." "Waste Remedies has helped its clients reduce waste management costs by as much as half," said Jeremy Degenhart, Advantage vice president. "The business opportunity for this company is sizable and growing. With its prospects for growth and environmental focus, it is a good business to bring to this community." About Advantage Capital Partners Advantage Capital Partners is a private equity firm focused on investing in promising companies in connection with federal, state and local economic development efforts. With offices in St. Louis, New Orleans, New York and other cities, Advantage has raised more than $700 million in institutional venture capital since 1992 and invested in companies located in geographic underserved by traditional venture capital. For more information, visit http://www.advantagecap.com/ . About Southwest Bank Southwest Bank of St. Louis is part of Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (NYSE:MI), a diversified financial services corporation headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., with $52 billion in assets. The Southwest Bank affiliate has fourteen offices in the St. Louis area and one office in Belleville, Ill. M&I also provides trust and investment management, equipment leasing, mortgage banking, asset-based lending, financial planning, investments, and insurance services from offices throughout the country and on the Internet ( http://www.mysouthwestbank.com/ ). DATASOURCE: Advantage Capital Partners CONTACT: Carter Dunkin of Advantage Capital, +1-314-725-0800 Web site: http://www.advantagecap.com/ http://www.mysouthwestbank.com/

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