$98m to be invested in NZ waste company

Wang Hao.

Beijing Capital Group has said it will invest $98 million in its new acquisition, Waste Management, in line with its successful application for Overseas Investment Office approval to buy the company.

The Chinese state-owned enterprise said it had committed to buy new assets, develop landfill capacity and to introduce new anaerobic digestion technology at the Redvale landfill, near Dairy Flat. Beijing Capital said the company would create at least 13 new job opportunities within 12 months.

The OIO said Beijing Capital's commitment to invest and create new jobs was an important part of its decision to approve the purchase of Waste Management, which is New Zealand's biggest refuse collector and landfill owner.

Beijing Capital bought Waste Management from Australia's Transpacific for $950 million in March.

The previously NZX-listed Waste Management was highly profitable and popular with investors before it was taken over by Transpacific for $870 million in 2006.

The new owners formally took over ownership of Transpacific New Zealand last week, renamed the company Waste Management New Zealand, and unveiled a new logo.

"We are confident that our investment will deliver significant and mutual technical and commercial benefits for both companies and will open further strong commercial links between the New Zealand and Chinese markets," said Wang Hao, group chief executive and deputy chairman of Beijing Capital.

Waste Management's managing director Tom Nickels has been appointed to the new board. Graham Mulligan, a former Transpacific director, has been appointed as an independent director.

Wang, through an interpreter, said it was Beijing Capital's biggest overseas investment to date and that the company was bought on the strength of its stable business and good record of operations.

Nickels said Waste Management could offer its new owners expertise in landfill construction and management, waste collection systems, fleet management, and safety and environmental standards.

He said that the company's business had picked up over the past two years after suffering a flat patch in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and economic downturn.

Beijing Capital operates landfills in China and is a recognised leader in China's solid waste treatment industry.

It is also a key investor in transport infrastructure around Beijing and in one of the largest water companies in China.

Waste Management and its closest competitor EnviroWaste now represent more than half of the sector in this country. APNZ