Infrastructure and Services
- Acquired 49.5% of the Gloucestershire waste treatment plant from Balfour Beatty
- With this acquisition required 100% of the assets before selling its subsidiary in the United Kingdom
Javier Mesones
14/11/2023 – 6:00
Urbaser agreed to acquire from the British construction and services group Balfour Beatty 49.5% of the company that owns the Gloucestershire waste-to-energy plant, in the southwest of England. Until now, the Spanish group has 50.5% of the company UBB Waste (Gloucestershire), which means that it has full control (100%) of the company.
This purchase occurred at a time when the company led by Fernando Abril-Martorell is exploring the sale of its subsidiary in the United Kingdom, in an operation that will continue other divestments made last year, such as its business in countries. Nordics or its water subsidiary Socamex. This thinning responds to the company’s perimeter reduction strategy for the future sale of its sole shareholder, the American fund Platinum, owned by Tom Gores, owner of the Detroit Pistons NBA team.
The Spanish company has already sold its business in the Nordic countries, the Portuguese Suma and its water subsidiary Socamex
In 2012, Urbaser and Balfour Beatty were awarded a contract for the implementation and operation for 28 years of the waste treatment plant for its subsequent conversion to energy in Gloucestershire. The value of the award reached 500 million pounds (close to 600 million euros at the exchange rate then). Urbaser began operations at the facility in 2020. The plant handles up to 190,000 tons of waste per year, with a production capacity of more than 116,000 Mwh of electricity per year.
Urbaser and Balfour Beatty also won in 2012 the construction and operation of a waste treatment plant in Essex, southeast of England. In this case, the Spanish firm has a 70% stake in the company and the British firm has 30%.
Urbaser sealed the purchase of Balfour Beatty’s stake in UBB (Gloucestereshire) weeks after hiring Barclays to examine the sale of its business in the United Kingdom, as reported by Expansión. A transaction that could reach a valuation of around 500 million euros. If completed, it will follow the sale, announced in August, of its subsidiary in the Nordic countries to Cube Infrastructure for 390 million (including debt).
In addition, in 2022 Urbaser sold Socamex, specialized in the water sector, to the Swiss fund Quaero, for 94.48 million. This year it also sold its stake in Portuguese Suma to Mota-Engil, which took over the company’s entire urban waste collection and treatment business, while the Spanish group took over the industrial waste activities. In 2023, Arquisocial, specialized in home care services and social resource manager, was also transferred to Socio-Health Projects in the Southeast and Foundation for the Study and Promotion of Social Action (Fepas). In addition, Urbaser hired KPMG to transition its urban mobility subsidiary Movus.
