March 24: EcoSouth, a portfolio company of private equity firm Kinderhook Industries, has acquired Florida-based A Waste and Recycling. The transaction includes a transfer station in Sarasota and a roll-off collection business.
“We will be partnering with A Waste CEO and founder, Roger Alvarez, post-close who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our team. We are grateful to take over what Roger has built and expand the company’s presence in the region while continuing to provide excellent service to our customers,” said EcoSouth CEO Joe Burkel in a statement.
Other recent deals include Dallas-based Frontier Waste Solutions acquiring Absolute Waste Services, a hauler founded in 2001 that offers residential, commercial and roll-off collection services. Absolute is based in Corpus Christi, Texas, offering Frontier an opportunity to densify its presence in that region. This marks the 17th acquisition for Frontier, which was acquired by private equity firms Summer Street Capital Partners and Concentric Equity Partners last fall.
Kinderhook also recently acquired Arkansas-based CARDS Recycling, a fast-growing company that now operates hauling and post-collection assets across five states. CARDS was founded in 2017 by industry veteran Dan Christensen. Kinderhook foresees “significant expansion opportunities” for the company.
The U.S. waste and recycling industry's M&A activity has neared historic levels in recent years. Waste Dive is working to catalog as many deals as possible to provide a more holistic look at the state of industry consolidation and expansion.
Collective M&A spending by the solid waste industry's publicly traded companies is estimated to have reached $4.29 billion in 2021, according to investment firm Jefferies, coming in above prior estimates of around $3.5 billion. Spending totals by those same companies approached an estimated $6.3 billion in 2022.
In addition to acquisitions by the main public companies, the industry has seen notable activity by a range of private companies, including multiple with private equity backing. This list focuses on deals executed by companies that primarily provide municipal solid waste or recycling services in the United States. We list acquirers in alphabetical order by their parent company or common operating name, which may differ from the specific legal entities involved in the acquisitions. Please send feedback or tips to crosengren@industrydive.com.
