Recycler plans private placement

F&E Resource Systems Technology Inc., a Baltimore company that operates a Curtis Bay recycling and composting center, yesterday announced a $20 million private equity offering to gain full ownership of the facility.

Ronald W. Pickett, F&E's chairman and chief executive, said the deal should close Dec. 15.

F&E currently owns 5 percent of the Baltimore First Facility and will spend $10 million for full ownership. The 15-acre center opened in August 1993 and is designed to handle 700 tons of trash per day. Its main supplier is Browning Ferris Industries, which handles trash from commercial customers such as hotels, restaurants and shopping centers.

F&E plans to buy out the two partners, Credit Suisse and Chrysler Capital Corp., that helped finance construction of the Curtis Bay facility. The company also plans to spend $2 million of the proceeds from the offering -- which will be sold to qualified investors and institutions -- for repairs there.

An additional $2.5 million will be used to buy two landfills in Georgia and South Carolina. The balance will go for underwriting fees and working capital.