Fisher accepts Waste Management deal

An outspoken critic of Transpacific's takeover bid for Waste Management will now accept the offer because it no longer supports the Waste Management board and management.

Fisher Funds Management said last night it would accept Transpacific's $8.64-a-share offer for its 6.6 per cent stake in the waste disposal company, worth around $57 million.

The proposal - which both Australia's Transpacific and Waste Management call a merger - has been widely criticised as a takeover in disguise. It has the support of the Waste Management board and managing director Kim Ellis.

"Fisher Funds advises that we will be reluctantly voting to approve the proposed amalgamation between Waste Management and Transpacific Industries," said Fisher Funds, which last week said it would reject the offer. "Fisher Funds does not invest in companies where we do not fully support the board and the key executives."

The fund manager was concerned that Waste Management had pulled out of the bidding for Australian solid waste company Cleanaway, which had previously been a key plank in its Australian growth strategy.

"We believe the board of WAM [Waste Management] has effectively sidelined the company from its Australian expansion potential and we have concluded that the long-term growth outlook for WAM has been compromised to the extent that we have no choice but to reluctantly approve the amalgamation proposal."

Wast Management's Ellis said Fisher Funds' acceptance of the offer was positive, but he declined to comment on the criticism. "I'd rather deal with that at the meeting next week," he said.

Seventy-five per cent of Waste Management shareholders have to approve the proposal at a meeting on May 17.

Transpacific executive chairman Terry Peabody last week threatened to aggressively compete with Waste Management in New Zealand if the deal did not proceed.