GFL Environmental rejects takeover bids

Canada’s GFL Environmental Inc. said it rejected buyout proposals and will stay public, ending a monthslong process that attracted interest from investors including Blackstone Inc. and Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. A special committee of independent directors determined the bids didn’t reflect the company’s long-term prospects, according to a statement Nov. 10. An offer from the Blackstone consortium came in at $52 a share, valuing the company at more than $22 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. That would be about 13% higher than the closing price of $45.88 on Nov. 9 in New York. “GFL’s stand-alone growth plans offer far superior risk-adjusted returns for shareholders,” Dino Chiesa, chair of the board’s special committee, said in a statement. The decision ends a closely watched takeover process that drew interest from some of the world’s biggest infrastructure investors. Bloomberg News reported in September that KKR & Co., Energy Capital Partners and Blackstone had teamed up on one bid, while Brookfield and IFM Investors were pursuing a rival offer. GFL, which has built a large North American waste-management business through acquisitions, has a market value of about $20 billion. Image A GFL Environmental garbage truck arrives at a transfer station in Toronto. (Cole Burston/Bloomberg) Patrick Dovigi, the company’s billionaire founder, had said he would be willing to roll his entire stake into a takeover, while acknowledging that other large shareholders had differing views on the company’s valuation and whether to sell. Some of GFL’s largest investors believed the shares were worth “well into the $60s,” Dovigi said in late October.…

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