Lovells

Advising Veolia on £595m acquisition of Cleanaway Limited

News:  Lovells has advised Veolia Environmental Services, part of Paris and New York listed company Veolia Environnement, on its £595 million acquisition of Cleanaway Limited (Cleanaway) from Brambles Industries plc.

Detail:
The acquisition will further establish Veolia Environnement as a leading provider of waste management solutions for industrial, commercial and municipal clients in the UK.  Through Veolia Environmental Services (formerly Onyx), Veolia Environnement is one of the leading waste companies in the UK, operating in both the municipal and industrial markets.   Cleanaway is a major England and Wales operator in municipal and industrial waste collection and integrated waste management services, supported by a nationwide network of service centres and four landfill sites.   

Comment:
This is the first time we have advised the environmental division of Veolia on a significant corporate transaction in the UK.  It builds on our developing relationship with Veolia Environmental Services, advising on long-term waste management contracts, including PFI projects. It also follows advice to the water division on the disposal of a 25% stake in Southern Water earlier this ear to RBS.   The transaction is subject to merger control and so work on the transaction will continue over the coming weeks.   The opportunity to advise came about as a result of our existing work for Veolia Environmental Services on waste PFI projects and close collaboration between partners in a number of different practice areas including Jason Radford (Projects), Steven Bryan (Corporate), Ciara Kennedy-Loest (Competition and EU law) and Louise Moore (Environment), with the instructions won following a beauty parade involving other leading firms.