Waste management firm Biffa has announced today it has received a takeover offer from a US equity company.

The ‘unsolicited’ offer, worth around £1.36bn, came from affiliates of New Jersey-based firm Energy Capital Partners (ECP).

The proposal consists of 445p per Biffa share, the British waste management specialist has said.

The company added that it would back the bid if ECP tabled a firm offer on the same financial terms as the proposal.

Biffa’s board had previously evaluated the proposal as well as the risks the company faces, including the current status of discussions between HMRC and the company.

The firm said it is the subject of an enquiry by HMRC regarding certain aspects of its landfill tax compliance.

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Biffa last year announced it would buy the collections business and certain recycling assets from Viridor Waste Management for $178.87m from by KKR.

With public pressure mounting to reduce global waste, companies around the world have committed to improve recycling and reduce carbon emissions, boosting their credentials with investors and the general public.

Viridor is owned by U.S. private equity firm KKR and Reuters in October had reported that KKR had hired investment bank UBS to sell its waste and recycling subsidiary.

London-listed Biffa expects synergy opportunities of at least 10 million pounds to be delivered within a period of 12-18 months from completion, which is expected no earlier than August.

“The addition of Viridor’s 85 million-pound collections revenues builds on the group’s strong track record as the leading market consolidator in the highly fragmented Industrial and Commercial collections market,” Biffa Chief Executive Michael Topham said.

Early last year, British water utility Pennon had sold its waste-management business Viridor to KKR for around $6bn.

Source: Energy Live News

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