All financial information is in Canadian dollars.
GFL Environmental closed its acquisition of Secure Waste Infrastructure on Tuesday, the company announced. The deal significantly expands GFL's presence in western Canada through Secure's energy and production waste assets.
Allen Gransch, CEO of Secure, and other members of the company's management team will stay on post acquisition. Secure will be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange by the close of business on Sept. 2.
"The acquisition of [Secure] reinforces our goal of creating long-term equity value for our shareholders and is expected to significantly accelerate the achievement of the multi-year financial targets we outlined at our investor day in early 2025," GFL CEO Patrick Dovigi said in a statement. Those targets include potential 2028 adjusted earnings before income, taxes, depreciation and amortization north of $3 billion.
The deal valued Secure at roughly $6.4 billion. GFL financed 80% of the acquisition through stock compensation and 20% through cash. It announced on Tuesday that it used a new $1 billion (U.S.) senior secured term loan in the deal.
GFL executives have said the deal is not expected to raise the company's net leverage ratio, as Secure has additional free cash flow and lower debt that will have a positive effect on GFL's balance sheet. GFL is still targeting a net leverage ratio "in the mid 3s" for the end of the year, per Tuesday's release.
Calgary-based Secure has more than 2,000 employees and an asset portfolio that includes 55 liquid waste facilities, 10 metals recycling facilities and a portfolio of more than a dozen landfills. Assets are largely concentrated in Western Canada, with some in North Dakota.
Through the first half of the year, the company reported revenue of $805 million, up 10% year over year. That was fueled in part by growth in Secure’s waste management assets, including ramp-up of water disposal facilities commissioned in late 2025 and early 2026, per the company’s second quarter report.
Despite some initial investor questions about the transaction, 78% of Secure's shareholders ultimately voted in favor of the deal on May 27. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved the deal on May 5. Canada’s Competition Bureau approved the deal on Aug. 28, CTFN reported.
GFL's leadership team is also exploring a take-private deal. Executives confirmed during the company's earnings call in July that they had convened a special committee and retained advisors to weigh leveraged buyout offers.
The Secure deal and the take-private conversations have been running in "parallel paths," Dovigi said during the call. He said two potential buyers for GFL had also been exploring Secure, and GFL had no intention of breaking off from the Secure deal as talks continued. Take-private offers are due the third week of September, CTFN reported.
"These buyers that have approached us, they love the Secure asset as much as they love the GFL business," Dovigi said.
