Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM) and Advanced Disposal Services, Inc. (NYSE: ADSW) recently today that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which a subsidiary of Waste Management will acquire all outstanding shares of Advanced Disposal for $33.15 per share in cash, representing a total enterprise value of $4.9 billion when including approximately $1.9 billion of Advanced Disposal’s net debt.
Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is one of North America’s largest waste management companies and provides provides collection, transfer, disposal services, and recycling and resource recovery to approximately 20 million customers. It is also a developer, operator, and owner of landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States.
Advanced Waste, headquartered in Florida, is considered to be the fourth largest waste disposal company in the United States. It has over 3 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers, including over 800 municipalities primarily in 16 states in the Eastern half of the United States. Advanced Disposal’s solid waste network includes 94 collection operations, 73 transfer stations, 41 landfills, and 22 owned or operated recycling facilities. In 2018, Advanced Waste had revenues of $1.56 billion, adjusted EBITDA of $427 million, and approximately 6,000 employees.
The transaction, which was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, is expected to close by the first quarter of 2020, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and approval by a majority of the holders of Advanced Disposal’s outstanding common shares.
If approved, the acquisition is set to go down as one of the waste industry’s largest deals in recent history. In terms of consolidating power, it would join the likes of mergers between Republic Services and Allied Waste in 2008, Waste Connections and Progressive Waste Solutions in 2016, and GFL Environmental and Waste Industries in 2018.
