ECP to Buy UK Waste Management Firm Biffa for £1.3 Billion

(Bloomberg) -- Energy Capital Partners LLC agreed to buy the UK waste-management company Biffa Plc for £1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) after lowering its proposed purchase price in a difficult funding environment. 

ECP offered 410 pence per share in cash and access to the final dividend to be paid in October, the companies said Tuesday. 

The buyout firm extended the deadline to make a final offer several times and lowered its price from the 445 pence a share first proposed in early June. Volatile financial markets, rising interest rates and geopolitical concerns have crippled lenders’ appetite to fund mergers and acquisitions in recent months. Several large deals have been delayed or shelved due to the inability of buyout firms to raise financing for such transactions.

Biffa, which offers services from waste collection to recycling to local governments and private clients, requires “patient, sustained capital investment predicated on a long-term horizon,” according to ECP. The investment fits with its search for sustainable businesses that can help the energy transition and the circular economy, it said. 

The shares surged as much as 29% in London trading to match the offer price. 

Biffa’s board backed the transaction. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. and Soros Fund Management LLC, which own almost 14% of the stock, committed to bringing their shares to the offer. The company first sold shares to the public in October 2016. 

The transaction should complete in the fourth quarter or the first quarter of 2023. Rothschild & Co. was Biffa’s lead adviser and Barclays Plc was ECP’s. 

(Updates with funding context in first and third paragraphs, advisers in last)

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