As reported by the Waste Business Journal, billionaire Bill Gates, through his investment company Cascade Investment, LLC, has picked up more shares of Republic Services.

Taking advantage of a lower stock price that was off by about 13 per cent following the announcement of lower first quarter earnings, Cascade acquired an additional 3.7 million shares between April 30 and May 2 for an average price of $27.40 per share.

Gates now owns approximately 18.6% of the company.