Waste Management selling cleantech subsidiary for US$1.94B
by The Associated Press
Waste Management's Wheelabrator Technologies unit owns or runs 17 waste-to-energy facilities
HOUSTON—Waste Management, Inc. is selling a subsidiary to Energy Capital Partners for US$1.94 billion as part of its effort to focus on its core business.
It is selling Wheelabrator Technologies Inc., which owns or runs 17 waste-to-energy facilities and four independent power-producing plants in the United States.
The business also has four ash monofill landfills, three transfer stations and an ongoing development and construction project in the United Kingdom.
Wheelabrator’s 2013 revenue totalled about US$845 million.
Waste Management said it will enter a long-term agreement to supply waste to certain Wheelabrator facilities once the transaction is complete.
The Houston-based trash and recycling hauler plans to use proceeds from the sale to buy assets related to its core business and for stock repurchases.
The deal is targeted to close later this year.
It still needs approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Waste Management now plans to resume share buybacks that were put on hold while talks about the sale of Wheelabrator were going on.
It anticipates using an accelerated stock repurchase program to spend the full amount of its previously disclosed US$600-million authorization on share buybacks over a maximum period of about six months.
