Veolia to buy Biffa&#39s loss-making Belgian division

The French-owned waste management company said today it will pay 30.7 million for Biffa Belgium, the fourth largest waste operator in the country.

Severn Trent, which is also currently in the process of demerging the rest of Biffa into an independent company (see letsrecycle.com story), said Biffa Belgium was expected to record a loss of between 4 million and 5 million for 2006.

Acquisition
Veolia's acquisition is to include the collection and recycling business for both commercial and domestic waste as well as Biffa Belgium's hazardous waste division, Antwerp pre-treatment facility and landfill operations in the Walloon region.

Commenting on the acquisition, Veolia Environmental Services UK chief executive and executive vice president for Northern Europe, Cyrille du Peloux, said: “This is an excellent opportunity for us to further develop our European base, particularly as many of our large customers are looking for pan-European service providers.

“With the recent changes in the Belgian market, we believe our experience in recovery and recycling are assets that will help develop this business further,” Mr du Peloux added.

Biffa
In a separate announcement yesterday, Severn Trent appointed Bob Davies as chairman of Biffa in preparation for the company's demerger.

Mr Davies, aged 57, was previously chief executive of the transport services group Arriva for more than seven years, and is a non-executive director of the British Energy Group and Barratt Development plc.

Severn Trent chairman Sir John Egan said: “We are delighted Bob has agreed to become Chairman of Biffa Plc to help lead the business through the demerger process and into Biffa's new existence as a separate listed company in the FTSE 250.”

Mr Davies commented: “I very much look forward to working with the Biffa management team to develop the company's prominent position in the UK waste market.”