Investment firm Ardian is acquiring Netherlands-based European waste management company Attero from 3i and DWS funds.
Ardian has agreed to buy Attero through the acquisition of a 50% stake held by DWS funds, and by buying the remaining 50% interest held equally by 3i Infrastructure and 3i Investments funds.
3i Infrastructure said it expects the sale of its 25% stake in the waste treatment and recycling company to generate €215m in net proceeds, this compares with a valuation of €164m on 31 March 2023. 3i Infrastructure said the sale proceeds will be used to partially repay drawings on the company’s revolving credit facility.
In March 2018, 3i Infrastructure announced it will invest €201m to acquire a 50% stake in Attero, alongside DWS’s infrastructure investment business. Since then, Attero has experienced growth, including opening a new 120MW turbine, opening a new polymer recycling plant and almost doubling its EBITDA.
Attero owns two of the largest energy-from-waste plants in Western Europe, anaerobic digestion plants for biomethane production, composting facilities, mineral recycling and depository locations, post-separation installations and plastic recycling capacity that recycles up to 25,000 tonnes a year of used plastic into high quality granulates.
Daniel von der Schulenburg, the head of infrastructure Germany, Benelux and Northern Europe at Ardian, said: “We have been impressed by the operations and exceptional management team of Attero - a company that is a leader in waste management and circular economy solutions. This investment further demonstrates our strategy of supporting leading infrastructure businesses and further expanding our commitments in the Netherlands.”
Richard Laing, chair of 3i Infrastructure, said: “Attero has been a most successful investment for the company, experiencing substantial growth during our investment period. Whilst 3i Infrastructure aims to hold its investments over the longer term, we will sell investments where this generates significant additional value for our shareholders.”
Scott Moseley and Bernardo Sottomayor, managing partners and co-heads of European infrastructure at 3i Investments, investment manager of 3i Infrastructure, added: “We are proud of Attero’s achievements during our period of ownership. Our engaged asset management approach, in partnership with management and our co-investors, enabled Attero to almost double EBITDA and develop into an attractive, large-scale, diversified, circular economy business.
”Our ability to sell our portfolio companies at a significant uplift to book value underpins the valuation of our high-quality core-plus infrastructure assets.”
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