Cheung Kong Buys Major New Zealand Waste Management Company

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth, Australia)--Cheung Kong Infrastructure (Hong Kong) has come to an agreement with private equity firm Ironbridge Capital Pty Limited (Sydney, Australia) to purchase Envirowaste Services Limited (Auckland, New Zealand) in a deal worth nearly $500 million. Envirowaste is a New Zealand waste management business that operates recycling depots, landfill sites, and technology that captures methane gas for use in power generation. With average revenue of about $150 million per annum, Envirowaste is New Zealand's second-largest waste management company.

The deal includes an agreement to take over $11 million of finance lease obligations, as well as to buy Envirowaste for $490 million.

Envirowaste Chairman Kim Ellis has welcomed the purchase, saying in an official statement, "EnviroWaste is well-placed to continue to provide superior service to customers and to expand its operations under the ownership of CKI."

Li Ka-shing, the chairman of Cheung Kong Infrastructure, has been actively increasing his company's interest in Australasia, having recently purchased Australian salt producer Cheetham Salt though CK Life Sciences International, another of the Cheung Kong Group companies.

Ka-shing's assets span property, ports, power, water, supermarkets, drug stores and telecoms and his companies have such a pervasive presence in Hong Kong that most of the city's 7 million people do business with one of them almost every day. The group, led by flagship property developer Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited, spans 52 nations and employs 270,000 people. Cheung Kong Infrastructure already owns Wellington Electricity Lines in New Zealand and has interests in a range of Australian companies, including Envestra Limited, Spark Infrastructure Limited, SA Power Networks, Citipower and Powercor.

Li Ka-shing is the founder and chairman of Cheung Kong Group (SEHK:1) (Hong Kong). Ironbridge founding partner Julian Knights said in a statement that EnviroWaste's management team would continue to lead the business under Cheung Kong Infrastructure's ownership.

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