BCI and Macquarie Offer to Take Renewi PLC Private
BCI and Macquarie Asset Management, through Earth Bidco B.V., have announced a recommended cash offer to purchase 100 per cent of the issued and to be issued shares of Renewi PLC (“Renewi”, the “Company”) in a proposed take-private transaction. This acquisition is being pursued through BCI’s Infrastructure & Renewable Resources program.
Renewi is a leading waste-to-product company with operations primarily in the Netherlands and Belgium. The Company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Euronext Amsterdam.
“We look forward to working with Renewi’s management in implementing the Company’s ongoing strategy as a pure-play waste-to-product company, in addition to supporting its growth ambitions. In the context of sustainability and resource conservation, we believe Renewi is well-positioned to support a more circular economy, helping to advance the EU’s targets under its Circular Economy Action Plan and maintain Europe’s position as a global leader in recycling,” said Lincoln Webb, Executive Vice President & Global Head of Infrastructure & Renewable Resources at BCI.
More information about the offer can be found in the offer announcement, available on the following website: https://www.macquarie.com/uk/en/macquarie-renewi-offer.html
This isn't Macquarie's first attempt to acquire Renewi.
In late November of last year, acquarie offered to buy Renewi for $887 million in fresh attempt:
Macquarie Asset Management offered to acquire Renewi Plc for about £701 million ($887 million) after its previous takeover attempt of the London-listed waste management company was rejected. Shares of Renewi jumped by the most since 2009.
The asset manager has reached a preliminary agreement with Renewi on a possible cash offer of 870 pence per share, representing a 57% premium to Wednesday’s closing price, according to a statement that confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report. Macquarie said the offer is final and won’t be increased.
Macquarie has received commitments from three major Renewi shareholders — Coast Capital, Avenue Europe International Management LP and Paradice Investment Management LLC — that hold a combined 15.1% of the company and have pledged to support the potential offer.
Renewi agreed to give Macquarie access to confirmatory due diligence and said the offer is at a value that it would be inclined to recommend. Macquarie has until 5:00 p.m. local time on Dec. 26 to announce a firm intention to make an offer or walk away, according to the UK takeover rules.
Shares of Renewi extended gains to as much as 47% on Thursday, their biggest advance since December 2009, following the announcement.
Macquarie’s latest move on Renewi came after its last offer was turned down about a year ago. Macquarie offered to take over Renewi in September 2023 and raised its bid to 810 pence per share a month later, which was rejected by Renewi’s board saying it “fundamentally undervalued” the company.
Renewi operates industrial and commercial waste collection and processing across the Netherlands and Belgium, its website shows. It also runs business that involves recycling of electrical, electronic equipment, glass and contaminated soil.
Macquarie Asset Management has invested and managed assets in the waste sector in Australia, the US and the UK. In 2021, it agreed to acquire Beauparc Utilities, a recycling and processing led waste-to-resource business across Ireland, the UK and the Netherlands.
Citigroup Inc. and Macquarie Capital are advising Macquarie Asset Management on the potential deal, while Renewi is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Waste management is a growing business and these are great assets to own over the long run.
Renewi's stock has definitely gotten a boost since Macquarie came back with its offer:
Now, I'm not sure if this latest offer will be accepted but if it is, it will be the second take-private deal for BCI's Infrastructure and Renewable Resources group this year.
Last week, I discussed why BCI took BBGI Global Infrastructure private in US$1.32-billion deal. You can read that comment here.
Typically take-private deals are done in private equity but these companies fall more under the purview of infrastructure and it's the same concept, meaning you take a company private, you add value and provide long term capital to help it grow.
Is BCI going to set up a waste management platform if this offer goes through?
Quite possibly, that's what it looks like to me.
In related news, last week BCI announced the expansion of its Private Equity group into London:
VICTORIA, NEW YORK, LONDON – February 13, 2025 – British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (“BCI”), one of Canada’s largest institutional investors, today announced the expansion of its Private Equity group into London.
The growth of BCI Private Equity’s European presence demonstrates its commitment to deepening relationships with investment partners and portfolio companies, scaling direct investment capabilities, and strengthening long-term value creation activities across its global portfolio. BCI’s London office will serve as the strategic hub for BCI Private Equity’s initiatives in Europe and is currently home to BCI Infrastructure & Renewable Resources’ team.
“Our presence in London is a natural progression of BCI’s strategy to broaden its global presence, allowing us to continue actively managing and originating private equity investments in the region, and further driving value creation across our portfolio for our clients,” said Jim Pittman, Executive Vice President & Global Head, Private Equity, at BCI. “We are well-positioned to act on the compelling opportunity set we see in the European market today.”
BCI Private Equity has added a London-based team with the appointment of senior executives Natasha Dillon and Derrick Estes.
Ms. Dillon, former Chief Portfolio People Officer on the operations team at Apax, has joined BCI as Senior Managing Director, Value Creation. In this new role, she is responsible for driving value creation across the global portfolio, including through people, talent, and organizational development.
Mr. Estes, former Partner at Corsair Capital, has joined as a Senior Managing Director. He will oversee BCI Private Equity’s global financial services sector team, focusing on insurance services, asset and wealth management, financial technology, specialty finance and payments solutions.
“We are pleased to welcome Natasha and Derrick to the team,” added Pittman. “Natasha’s deep operational background, and expertise in leading value creation and business transformation strategies bolsters our ability to deliver strong outcomes for our clients. Derrick brings over twenty years’ experience in global private equity, finance and capital markets and will further our investment and value creation capabilities in the sector.”
Today BCI Private Equity’s team has 73 investment and operational professionals in Victoria, British Columbia, New York City, and now London, investing across geographies and market cycles with a focus on proactive liquidity management. Over the last five-year period, BCI Private Equity’s program has deployed $24.2 billion in fund and direct investments, partnering with over 50 high-performing portfolio companies. BCI Private Equity opened its first office outside Victoria in New York City in 2022.
About BCI
British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) is amongst the largest institutional investors in Canada, with C$250.4 billion in gross AUM as of March 31, 2024. Based in Victoria, British Columbia, with offices in Vancouver, New York, and London, U.K., BCI manages a portfolio of diversified public and private market investments on behalf of its 29 British Columbia public sector clients.
BCI Private Equity’s program actively manages a C$31 billion global portfolio of privately held companies and funds with the potential for long-term growth and value creation. Leveraging our sector-focused teams in business services, consumer, financial services, healthcare, industrials, and technology, media and telecommunications, we work with strategic private equity partners to source and manage direct and co-sponsor/co-investment opportunities.
Does it make sense to open an office in London? You bet, if you want to gain access to meaningful co-investments to reduce fee drag, you need a strong presence there to interact with top strategic partners.
Jim Pittman, Executive Vice President & Global Head, Private Equity at BCI, made his business case to CEO/CIO Gordon Fyfe to open up an office in New York first (where Jim now lives) and he made another case to open an office in London.
Lincoln Webb, Executive Vice President & Global Head of Infrastructure & Renewable Resources at BCI. had already made his business case to open a London office prior to this latest move.
Last week, AIMCo shuttered its New York and Singapore offices to "save costs" but they will quickly realize farming out these investments to funds will end up costing a lot more over the long run and they will lose governance rights.
Below, Renewi is a recycling company operating in Europe. As a pure-play recycling business, its focus is exclusively on extracting value from waste and used materials, rather than disposal. It seeks to play a key role in limiting the scarcity of resources through the creation of secondary materials. Renewi believes this approach offers the most efficient solution to recycling, avoiding more than three million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.Renewi has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1988 and listed on Euronext Amsterdam in 2020. The business employs more than 6,500 people and is widely recognized as a European leader in recycling.
Watch this older (2021) interview with Renewi CEO Otto de Bondt where he discusses why sustainability is at the heart of what they're doing (another reason why BCI wants to acquire it).
I also embedded the latest investor presentation which is worth watching to familiarize yourself with this company.
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