China's record waste deal is far from rubbish

Beijing Enterprises Holdings

05/02/2016 02:43

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions 
expressed are her own.) 
    By Katrina Hamlin 
    HONG KONG, Feb 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - State-backed 
Beijing Enterprises is buying Germany's Energy from Waste for 
$1.6 bln. Unlike some of China's splashier foreign deals, this 
looks decently priced and makes obvious strategic sense. China 
badly needs more clean-technology expertise. Expect more trashy 
buys. 
 
     
    Full view will be published shortly. 
     
    CONTEXT NEWS 
    - Hong Kong-listed Beijing Enterprises agreed to buy 
Germany's Energy from Waste for 1.4 billion euros ($1.6 billion) 
from Swedish private equity firm EQT Partners, the seller said 
on Feb. 4. 
    - The deal is worth 1.8 billion euros including debt, 
Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the transaction. 
That values the company at 9.5 times EBITDA, Reuters said.  
    - This is the largest acquisition of a waste management 
company by a Chinese buyer, ThomsonOne data shows, and the 
largest Chinese acquisition in Germany to date.  
    - Beijing Enterprises, a conglomerate controlled by the 
municipal government, provides gas, water and waste treatment. 
It also owns Beijing Yanjing Brewery, one of China's biggest 
beermakers. 
    - Reuters: Beijing Enterprise buys Germany's Energy from 
Waste  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N15J1PZ 
    - EQT press release: http://bit.ly/1K1Lp1t 
        
     
    - For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can 
click on  HAMLIN/   
 
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 (On Twitter https://twitter.com/KatrinaHamlin. Editing by 
Quentin Webb and Robyn Mak) 
 ((katrina.hamlin@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: 
katrina.hamlin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: ENERGYFROMWASTE M&A/BREAKINGVIEWS