EnviroWaste sold in half billion dollar deal

Envirowaste refuse station, Auckland. Photo / NZPA

Waste management company EnviroWaste has been sold in a half billion dollar deal.

Australian private equity company Ironbridge has sold the company to Hong Kong-based Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited (CKI) for $490 million, plus $11 million for finance lease obligations.

Ironbridge, which also owns TV3 and Radio Live through its MediaWorks stable, said it was exiting the investment after making 17 bolt-on acquisitions and doubling underlying earnings since the purchase from Fulton Hogan in April 2007.

Ironbridge has doubled its money, having paid $259 million in 2007. The sale comes after speculation as far back as April last year that it was considering a sale or an initial public offer of the business.

The sale price is ten times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

The inventor of New Zealand's first "3wheelie bins" has more than 400 employees in New Zealand, according to its website.

Its new owner is the largest listed infrastructure company in Hong Kong, which already has substantial interests in New Zealand. In 2008, Vector sold its Wellington electricity network to CKI for $785 million.

EnviroWaste's accounts filed to the Companies Office show earnings before interest and tax of $32.16 million in the year to June 30, 2012, up from $25.45 million in the previous year. Revenue of $163 million was up from $144 million in the previous year.

But finance costs took the bottom line to a loss of $18.98 million.