Energy Capital Partners is to acquire a controlling stake in Green Infrastructure Partners, a $4.25bn (€3.64bn) Canadian infrastructure company owned by GFL Environmental.
GFL said it would retain a 30.1% interest in Green Infrastructure Partners, valued at around $895m, while HPS Investment Partners and Patrick Dovigi would also retain minority stakes.
Following the deal, Green Infrastructure Partners would be valued at approximately $3bn, with an enterprise value of $4.25bn. The company would receive $775m in gross proceeds, which it plans to use to return $585m to shareholders and to allocate $175m for future growth. GFL would receive about $200m of the shareholder distribution.
Green Infrastructure Partners is a Canadian infrastructure company specialising in a wide range of integrated, heavy civil and structural construction services.
Drew Brown, partner at Energy Capital Partners, said: “This transaction will provide GIP with access to significant capital to execute on a compelling M&A pipeline that we believe is particularly actionable in the near-term.
“With two decades of investing in North American infrastructure, Energy Capital Partners is well equipped to act as a value-add partner with Green Infrastructure Partners, and we look forward to working with the talented Green Infrastructure Partners and GFL leadership teams to execute on a shared vision for growth and margin enhancement.”
Patrick Dovigi, founder and CEO of GFL, said: “The recapitalisation of Green Infrastructure Partners at an enterprise value of $4.25bn is a testament to the quality of the business its management team has built since we started Green Infrastructure Partners in April 2022.
“The approximately $200m in proceeds that GFL will receive from the transaction will be used for general corporate purposes, including de-levering our balance sheet, executing on our organic and inorganic growth strategies, including our robust M&A pipeline, and pursuing opportunistic share buybacks, subject to market conditions.”
Dovigi said GFL’s original investment of approximately $250m in 2022 has grown to approximately $1.1bn in just over three years, adding that the “recapitalisation positions Green Infrastructure Partners to significantly exceed our original value expectations in the near term and sets the company up for an exciting period of growth”.
Scot French, founding partner and co-president of HPS, said: “We congratulate management on this significant milestone and thank our longstanding partners at GFL for their vision and steadfast execution in building Canada’s premier infrastructure service provider.
“We are proud to invest in companies like Green Infrastructure Partners and GFL that play an important role in maintaining and improving the critical infrastructure and essential services that people rely on every day.”
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