The acquisition of Spanish waste management and environmental services group Urbaser by the financial investors Blackstone and EQT Fund Management has been approved by the European Commission's directorate-general for competition on Wednesday.
The Commission said it concluded that the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns, "given the companies' limited market positions resulting from the proposed transaction". The take-over was examined under the simplified merger review procedure.
Blackstone, EQT and Platinum Equity, the current owner of Urbaser, announced the transaction in February. Platinum Equity, which had launched the sales process late in 2024, put the transaction value at approximately €5.6bn at that time.
In early March, Urbaser reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in the Portuguese environmental services company EcoAmbiente. The seller is IP Holding (Ilidio Pinho Holding), the owner of a 68.82 per cent stake in EcoAmbiente's parent company FomentInvest. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.
According to FomentInvest, its minority shareholders are Haitong Capital SCR and Caixa Capital, the venture capital business of Portugal's CGD group, each holding stakes of 15.59 per cent.
Urbaser describes EcoAmbiente as one of the leading operators in the Portuguese market in its segment with more than 100 active contracts in waste collection, urban cleaning, and green area maintenance, primarily with municipal clients. The company based in Sintra has a workforce of nearly 1,500 employees and a fleet of 600 vehicles and generates more than €60m in annual revenue.
The transaction increases Urbaser's presence in Portugal and enables it to enter the urban services segment in the country. This activity "expands and complements" its current positioning in the industrial waste business, the Spanish company said.
The examination of this transaction by the competition authority in Portugal is still ongoing. Urbaser expects the take-over to be completed shortly after approval has been granted. Following this acquisition, its platform in Portugal will have more than 20 facilities, 1,000 vehicles, and 2,000 professionals, according to the company.
