Fresh out of bankruptcy, Dallas-based Eco-Bat Technologies has hired former Stream Energy general counsel and Baker Botts special counsel Daniel Terrell as the company’s first chief legal officer.
Eco-Bat, which is the world’s largest producer and recycler of lead and lead batteries, relocated its headquarters and C-suite from the United Kingdom to Dallas earlier this year after the business exited Chapter 11 restructuring in January. The company hired a new CEO and CFO in the second half of 2019 and decided to create an in-house legal department.
“The company collects and recycles 120 million batteries a year,” said Terrell, who guided Stream through a $330 million sale of its retail utility business last year. “The sustainability aspect is very attractive and there’s a great new management team in place. So is the idea of starting a corporate legal department from the ground up.”
Eco-Bat has 3,500 employees in North America, Europe and Southern Africa. It has revenues of nearly $3 billion.
As part of the corporate restructuring, Dallas industrialist Howard Meyers and his EB Holdings operation agreed to relinquish a significant portion of the ownership to creditors, which included GoldenTree Asset Management, Fortress Investment group, Alcentra Limited, Sound Point Capital Management, H.I.G. Bayside Capital and Varde Partmers.
“My biggest challenge is getting my arms around the business, which has operations around the globe,” said Terrell, who started his new position today. “It isn’t as easy to get to know people because of the limits on travel right now.”
Several law firms were involved in Eco-Bat’s bankruptcy and restructuring, including K&L Gates, Paul Weiss, White & Case, Pillsbury Winthrop and the Bill Brewer law firm.
Terrell said he will look for outside counsel to engage after he’s gotten familiar with the business.
The Louisiana State University Herbert Law Center graduate has more than a decade of experience leading corporate legal departments. Terrell took on his first general counsel role at the end of 2007 for The Shaw Group, which was then the largest specialty contractor in the U.S. of fabricated piping systems.
Nearly five years later, he moved from Baton Rouge to Dallas to be the chief legal officer and corporate secretary of PLH Group, a portfolio company of Energy Capital Partners that provided energy infrastructure solutions to the North American oil and gas and electric power markets.
One of the highlights of Terrell’s career was executing a roll up strategy for PLH Group where the firm acquired seven businesses in less than a few years.
In October, Terrell joined Baker Botts’ Dallas office after the sale of Stream was completed.
“It is bittersweet to leave Baker Botts,” he said. “I had a fantastic time at Baker Botts. I’m leaving the firm with nothing but great thoughts about it. I definitely hope I can work with the firm again on matters.”