From an analyst dated early August Here’s the deal on Greenbriar …
Most investors don’t realize how valuable this company is because most investors only know what they read in press releases and earnings reports. And this limits those investors to relying on information that has only gone through certain gatekeepers. For me, I can’t rely only on that which shows up in my news feeds. In fact, most of the intelligence I come by is a result of my direct connections with management. And in the case of Greenbriar, management is one of the main reasons I remain so bullish on the company, as it takes shareholder value far more seriously than most.
Something you have to understand about Greenbriar’s CEO, Jeff Ciachurski, is that this guy has gone above and beyond to accumulate large assets for a small fraction of their costs, in an effort to build something incredibly lucrative.
Consider Greenbriar’s real estate development in Tehachapi, CA, for instance.
When Greenbriar first launched, the first thing management did was acquire 688 building lots from a billion-dollar real estate developer that was in serious financial trouble, spending (along with other prior investors), more than $20 million of invested capital on these 688 lots.
Greenbriar acquired all those lots in 2011 for $1,040,000. So for about five cents on the invested dollar. Now accounting principles, whether US GAAP or IFRS, only allow the costs paid by Greenbriar as the recordable cost. You cannot find the real value in the Greenbriar financial statements, but you can if you ask the right questions and know the guys who made the purchase. Now Greenbriar has engaged the City and an engineering and planning firm to build over 1,100 homes, townhouses and duplexes. This is a $260 Million value to shareholders.
Then there’s the “big reason” we bought Greenbriar: The Puerto Rico solar project.
In 2013 after Ciachurski sold a previous wind energy company, Western Wind, for $420 million (after starting it with $250 thousand in 2002), he was permitted on the sale to transfer a $1.9 billion solar contract in Puerto Rico to Greenbriar, for no upfront costs. Again, this value cannot be found in the financial statements, yet a court ordered valuator found the net present value to Greenbriar to be US $191 million even if the project does not get built.
Now, with Hurricane Maria leaving in its wake, a full scale devastation to the Island's grid, the US Federal Oversight and Management Board has classified Greenbriar's solar project a "Critical Project" and recommended that the project get built. With only 18 million shares outstanding, this court ordered valuation delivers a targeted share price of about $10 per share.
A Congressional Hearing was held in Washington DC a couple of weeks ago where Greenbriar's project was submitted by key members of Congress backing this project. With Federal intervention having commenced, and a USD $951 Million lawsuit filed in Greenbriar's favor, it is a short period of time before Greenbriar receives the permission to unlock this value to you.
Not only are these Greenbriar assets high impact in the sense of the gains they’ll deliver for shareholders, but they were also all acquired for pennies on the dollar.
The bottom line is that Jeff is one of the few CEOs that really takes shareholder value seriously. In fact, Jeff and his family have loaned the company over $1.5 million since 2013. Most CEO's would have converted this amount into shares at lower share prices, but Jeff maintains that he won’t take advantage of any opportunity that will personally put him ahead of the shareholders.
Jeff has not taken a Greenbriar salary since its inception on 2009 and he has personally funded all the corporate office expenses. This is a person who is not only extremely honest, ethical and hard-working, but he’s also someone who puts all the shareholders’ interest above his own.