Waste Recycling Group favourite to buy Hanson Waste

A spokesman for Hanson said this week that a preferred bidder had been chosen and a deal was expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Hanson has opted to sell its waste business which includes composting, energy from waste and landfill, and concentrate instead on its quarry products division.

But, the spokesman could not confirm that Waste Recycling Group is the preferred bidder. However, with Waste Recycling Group known to be on the acquisition trail and looking to expand, there is a firm belief within the industry that WRG is the preferred company.

Floated on the London Stock Exchange in March 1994, WRG has grown swiftly and reported in its interim results to June 2000 that its turnover for the six months had risen to 86.9m (60.7m 1999).

While WRG has the word recycling in its name it is still to develop this to be a large part of the business. However, group managing director John Huntington has gone on record to say that company will be expanding recycling but that in plc terms recycling does need to be cost-effective.