Biffa Waste Services Limited entered into a binding agreement to acquire Municipal business of Renewi on May 30, 2024. The deal comprises five long-term residual waste treatment contracts serving local government customers in England and Scotland. In 2022, under the contracts, 930,000 tonnes of UK household waste were treated to avoid landfill and recover energy and raw materials.

With Renewi's decision to focus on its core operations in industrial and commercial recycling in mainland Europe, around 550 Renewi staff will now become part of the Biffa group. The five contracts are with the Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham (BDR) Waste Partnership, Cumbria County Council, Wakefield Council, East London Waste Authority and Argyle & Bute Council. The transaction will be effectuated through a combination of a nominal cash consideration payable to Biffa and pre-completion capitalisation of UK Municipal.

Capitalisation is expected to be approximately £125 million on completion which, when offset against the reduction of liabilities of £76.095 million, equates to a net cost of £48.735 million to Renewi and a total cash impact of £131.67 million, including transaction costs. Core net debt / EBITDA immediately following the transaction is expected to be approximately 2.9x, falling to our target of 2.0x in the medium-term, with improved margins and cash generation driving accelerated deleveraging. The transaction will be funded through the existing revolving credit facility, supplemented by a £102.6 million bridge facility.

The Divestment provides UK Municipal customers, employees and other stakeholders with strong strategic backing from a respected scale operator in the UK market. The transaction is expected to complete before 31 December 2024, subject to receipt of a limited suite of regulatory and other consents.