Announcing the acquisition today, Greenstar predicted that the acquisition of Verdant Group would bring its turnover up to £121 million. With the acquisition of Verdant, it will manage over 270,000 tonnes of material each year, operating from 38 facilities throughout the UK.
The acquisition of Verdant matches Greenstar's network of materials recycling facilities and processing infrastructure with Verdant's expanding municipal and commercial collections business.
Verdant has become a significant player in the municipal waste collection market since 2003, boasting long-term contracts with local authorities, mainly in the South East of England.
The company was formed out of the Ecovert Ltd business after its acquisition by former Polkacrest owners, the brothers Simon and Jon Miles (see letsrecycle.com story). The brothers had sold Polkacrest to London Waste in 1998.
Both Simon and Jon Miles will stay with the company following the acquisition to help “secure the continued successful growth of the combined organisation”, according to Greenstar.
Acquisitions
Verdant operates from 33 sites and collects over 100,000 tonnes of recyclable materials per annum. Forecasted revenue for the year ended 31 October 2007 was approximately £45 million. The company had expanded only last year by taking over the Southampton commercial waste firm Waste Services Ltd, which provides a trade waste and recycling collection service to businesses in the South/South East (see letsrecycle.com story).
Greenstar is owned by Irish energy and waste firm NTR plc, arriving on the UK stage with the takeover of Manchester-based Materials Recovery Ltd in 2003, and since then has acquired waste and recycling businesses including Blackburn-based RU Recycling, Wastelink Services and Waste Exchange Services Ltd.
The company acquired the West-Yorkshire based paper recycling specialist M&B Waste Management earlier this month.
Ian Wakelin, managing director of Greenstar UK said: “The municipal waste management market is valued at approximately £1.6 billion, of which some 40% is outsourced to the private sector. The combination of Verdant's strength in municipal collection and Greenstar's processing capabilities puts us in a unique position to compete in this market, providing the municipal market with a company that has strength in both collection and reprocessing of recyclables.”
Mr Wakelin said his enlarged company was particularly focused on developing its commercial waste services as demand for the recycling of business waste grows under the new pre-treatment legislation. He said this aim will be supported in particular through the Waste Services side of the Verdant Group.
Commenting on the sale of his company to Greenstar, Jon Miles said: “We believe that the success of both companies to date will be further enhanced by this development. From a strategic and cultural point of view there are great synergies between the two organisations which will provide a strong platform for further growth and development of the enlarged entity.”
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