KKR Buys Brambles Units for A$1.8 billion (US$1.35 billion)
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has bought the Australian waste management and industrial services businesses of Brambles Industries for A$1.83 billion (US$1.35 billion) in cash, a record for an Australian private equity transaction. Anglo-Australian logistics operator Brambles said it expected to complete the sale to KKR, one of the world's biggest buyout firms, by early July, 2006, and report a pre-tax profit on the transaction of about A$900 million. Advised by UBS, Brambles had announced last November that it would sell its Australian and New Zealand Cleanaway waste management arm and its material handling and logistics unit, Industrial Services, to focus on its more profitable pallet and document management businesses. KKR said the acquisition was its first investment in Australia. "These are world-class businesses that we hope to take to the next level," KKR director Justin Reizes said in a statement...Read More »
Casella Waste Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2006 Results
Casella Waste Systems (Nasdaq: CWST) released both 4th quarter and year-end financial results. For the quarter ended April 30, 2006, revenues were $126.5 million, up $10.7 million or 9.2 percent over the same quarter last year. Net earnings per share were $0.07, versus a net loss per share of $0.05 last year. Revenues for the year increased $44 million or 9.1 percent to $525.9 million. $18.8 million of that increase came from the revenues of recently acquired business including Chemung County landfill; Blue Mountain Recycling; the Worcester, Mass. landfill project; and the Colebrook landfill project.
Casella will host a conference call to discuss these results, at 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, June 20, 2006. Investors are invited to participate by calling 719.457.2629 at least 10 minutes prior. The call will also be webcast live and made available for replay...Read More »
Waste Industries USA Awarded Wake County, NC Landfill Contract
Wake County, North Carolina has contracted with Waste Industries USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: WWIN) to build and operate a landfill located in Holly Springs, North Carolina. Under the 25-year contract, the landfill is scheduled to open in late 2007 with estimated first year annualized revenues of $6 million. The contract is a coup for Waste Industries in a closely fought contest on its home turf. Since Waste Industries already provides much of the collection in the county, it is expected that they should be able to run the landfill more efficiently...Read More »
WCA Waste Corporation Announces New Capital Plan
WCA Waste Corporation (Nasdaq: WCAA) has received a $75 million convertible preferred equity investment from the Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund II (www.aresmgmt.com). WCA, which is planning additional transactions, hopes to use the proceeds to reduce debt to capitalization from 66% to 40%, and refinance senior secured debt at a 125-basis point savings...Read More »
California State Government To Reduce the Flow of Old Carpets into Landfills
As of September 1, 2006, the California state government will require that all new and replacement carpets purchased for use in thousands of state buildings, contain at least 10% recycled material. The initiative should help stem the flow of an estimated one million tons of waste carpet that goes into California landfills every year. The new California Gold Sustainable Carpet Standard should make an impact. Every year, the state purchases an estimated 12 million square feet of new carpeting - enough to carpet 208 football fields while discarding an estimated 5.3 million square feet of worn-out carpeting (92 football fields)...Read More »
Federal Judge Strikes Down Hanford Nuclear-Waste Initiative
A federal judge struck down a voter-approved initiative that would have prohibited the federal government from shipping nuclear waste to Hanford, ruling that the law unconstitutionally infringed on federal prerogatives. Initiative-297, known as the Cleanup Priority Act and overwhelmingly approved by Washington voters in 2004, would have blocked a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) plan to make Hanford the permanent disposal site for some low-level radioactive and hazardous wastes. U.S. District Judge Alan McDonald of Yakima agreed with the federal government's argument that I-297 preempted the field of nuclear-materials regulation...Read More »
Coca-Cola Posts Continued Progress on Environmental Performance in 2005
The Coca-Cola Company announced a fourth year of continued environmental progress. In its 2005 Environmental Performance Measures Report, the company proclaimed a 5 percent reduction in energy use per liter of product produced, a 4 percent reduction in water consumed per production unit, a 3 percent reduction in solid waste generated per production unit, and a 3 percent increase in recycling within its plants...Read More »
Parallel Products Acquires New York Recycling Facility
Parallel Products has purchased Container Recycling Alliance, L.P.'s (CRA) beverage container recycling business located in Bronx, New York. CRA's Bronx facility adds to Parallel Products' network of secure processing of empty and full beverage containers, recovery of aluminum, PET, HDPE, cardboard and glass commodities; and logistics management. The existing management team and staff in the Bronx facility will continue to operate the business as employees of Parallel Products...Read More »
Clean Harbors Moves Headquarters to Norwell, MA
Clean Harbors, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLHB), a leading provider of environmental and hazardous waste management services, has relocated its corporate headquarters to Norwell, Massachusetts. The move allowed them to consolidate two previous corporate offices as well as to accommodate future growth.
The Company, previously located in Braintree, now resides at 42 Longwater Drive in Norwell, Massachusetts. The new corporate number is 781.792.5000...Read More »
Safety-Kleen Receives 'BB-" Corporate Credit Rating From S&P
Safety-Kleen Systems, the Plano, Texas-based parts cleaning, oil recycling and re-refining, and industrial waste management company received 'BB-' corporate credit rating and stable outlook report card from Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. Similarly, Standard & Poor's assigned its 'BB-' bank loan rating and recovery rating of '3' to Safety-Kleen's $395 million senior secured credit facility. The credit facility will consist of a $100 million revolving credit facility due 2012, a $65 million letter of credit facility due 2013, and a $230 million term loan B due 2013. The 'BB-' bank loan rating is the same as the corporate credit rating. This and the '3' recovery rating indicate that lenders can expect meaningful (50%-80%) recovery of principal in the event of a payment default...Read More »
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