Increased recommended cash offer for specialist waste management firm
An increased recommended all cash offer for waste management business, Augean, is now being recommended to the Wetherby-based company’s shareholders.
The terms of the larger offer, which values the hazardous waste specialist at £356.9m, have been agreed by the boards of Augean and Antwerp Management Limited. This amounts to 340 pence per Augean Share.
Antwerp Management (MSIP) is a newly-formed company indirectly owned by funds managed or advised by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Inc, an indirect subsidiary of Morgan Stanley.
Augean’s directors have now withdrawn their recommendation of a rival £341.2m offer from Eleia, which comprises investment funds managed by Ancala Partners LLP and investment funds managed by Fiera Infrastructure Inc.
The latest bid for Augean follows an announcement made on 30 July 2021 of an offer by MSIP at a price of 280 pence per share, with a contingent entitlement of up to a further 20 pence in loan notes by way of a contingent value right linked to the outcome of Augean’s outstanding landfill tax claims.
A markets update on the new, increased offer explains: “MSIP has been following the waste management sector and the broader UK infrastructure market for a number of years and has spent time and resources evaluating the sector in general and Augean in particular.
“MSIP is interested in the opportunity to gain exposure to the UK hazardous waste market and views Augean as an attractive company operating in this sector, focusing on the energy from waste, construction, industrial and nuclear end markets.
“MSIP believes Augean is a high quality business with a network of strategically located facilities, a well-known and respected brand, and a customer base operating on long-term contracts.”
