Some two years after a bid was blocked by Safety-Kleen, Clean Harbors is set to buy the company for $1.25 billion.
A Safety-Kleen auto lubes recycler Image: Safety-Kleen |
The deal will allow theUS-based waste management company Clean Harbors to broaden its services and expand into solvent recycling. A decade ago it acquired its competitor Safety-Kleen’s Chemical Services Division, but the proposal to buy the whole company for $13/share was rejected at the time with a demand for from the Safety-Kleen shareholders of $20/share.
US government and regulatory pressure to re-refine used oil has certainly helped to boost the business of solvent recycling, with some 900 million gallons of used oil in the US available for captured. The deal will allow Clean Harbor to widen its customer base to generators of small-quantity waste.
According to Clean Harbors Chief Executive Alan McKim: "Safety-Kleen services over 200,000 customer locations, and we envision substantial cross-selling opportunities with its extensive customer base,"
Texas-based Safety-Kleen collects and processes annually around 200 million gallons of used oil. It already has a combined capacity of 160 million gallons in its Indiana and Ontario re-refineries with plans to increase the capacity of the Ontario plant by a further 10 million gallons.