Global asset manager TPG announced plans to acquire Waste Eliminator and Liberty Waste Solutions from private equity firm Allied Industrial Partners, setting the stage for a growth platform in the Southeast. The deal is expected to close by the third quarter of this year.
The combined acquisitions have 14 permitted facilities and a fleet of more than 500 vehicles, according to a release announcing the deal. Their services span collection and transfer, recycling, composting and disposal. Liberty owns two landfills in North Carolina and Waste Eliminator owns three disposal facilities that accept C&D waste and green waste in Georgia and South Carolina.
TPG expects the companies will be able to divert 60% of collected material from disposal. The asset manager plans to continue to invest in landfill diversion, recycling and composting capacity expansion per the release.
“Our transaction aims to create a waste infrastructure provider in one of the fastest-growing regions of the U.S.,” JD Vargas, partner at TPG Transition Infrastructure, said in a statement. “In a region where waste volumes are growing, we see a meaningful opportunity to support the companies’ growth.”
The region has seen plenty of investor interest in recent years due to favorable growth dynamics. Kinderhook Industries led a $1 billion continuation vehicle to transform its portfolio companies in the Southeast to Ecowaste Solutions, which is now based in Coppell, Texas. Other previous deals include Macquarie-backed Coastal Waste & Recycling’s acquisition of Pro Disposal and ongoing rollup deals made by Meridian Waste, which is backed by Warren Equity Partners.
Allied Industrial Partners, a Texas-based private equity investor, entered the waste space through its acquisition of Atlanta-based Waste Eliminator in 2021. The deal included a $150 million commitment to grow the company, including through initial acquisitions of Gainesville Waste & Recycling and Dawsonville Waste & Recycling.
The company had an early focus on waste diversion, operating a composting facility at its GWAR C&D Landfill in Gainesville, Georgia. Its services today also include biosolids hauling, wastewater services and dumpster rental.
Later add-ons for Waste Eliminator included Lookout Dumpsters, North Georgia Roll-Off, Unlimited Disposal Dumpster Service, Enterprise Landfill and Phillips Recoveries, FC Sanitation, Oconee Resources and Happy Haulers, per Allied’s website.
Allied invested in Liberty Waste Solutions in 2022. Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, the company changed its name from Wall Recycling following the deal and divested certain scrap recycling assets to focus on municipal solid waste. Liberty has also grown through add-on acquisitions, including deals for M&M Garbage Disposal and Bill’s Trash Services announced this month. Earlier this year, Liberty also acquired AJ Disposal and Randolph County Garbage Services.
“Over the course of our ownership, Allied partnered with management to transform both Liberty Waste and Waste Eliminator into regional operators with expanded waste management and recycling services, featuring modern fleets and the latest dispatch technology,” Bradford Rossi and Philip Wright, cofounders and managing partners at Allied, said in a joint statement. “We are proud of the growth Liberty Waste and Waste Eliminator have achieved and are confident that TPG is the right partner to guide the companies’ next chapters.”
Houlihan Lokey is Waste Eliminator’s financial advisor in the deal, while Stifel is the financial advisor for Liberty Waste Solutions.
This is one of the first investments TPG has made through its inaugural Transition Infrastructure fund, though it recently announced its acquisition of Priority Waste. Under different funds, TPG has also invested in Waste Harmonics Keter and Denali.
