Germany’s largest waste management group, Remondis, is expanding its footprint in Austria with the acquisition of a minority stake in Saubermacher AG, the national market leader, for an undisclosed sum. Completion is subject to approval by the competition authorities.
According to Austrian news media reports, Remondis is believed to hold a stake of just under 28 per cent. Neither company was willing to officially confirm the figure when contacted. In the past, however, Swiss bank UBS has had a shareholding of a similar size in Saubermacher. UBS took a 27.8 per cent stake in the waste management company in 2008, shortly after Saubermacher called off a planned IPO. At the end of 2024, the Roth family, the company’s controlling shareholders, bought back UBS’s shares.
According to Saubermacher, the investment is intended to establish a long-term partnership in which both companies combine their expertise. Together, the partners want to lay the foundations for forward-looking business fields that "combine ecological responsibility with economic benefit". Through the partnership with Remondis, Saubermacher believes it can improve its services to customers in the municipal, commercial and industrial sectors, with greater continuity and access to international best practice and new solutions across the entire value chain.
Saubermacher's existing management team is to retain operative control of the company. Andreas Opelt assumed the role of chief executive and chairman of the management board at the start of the year.
Founded in 1979 by the Roth family, Saubermacher provides waste management and recycling services for around 1,600 municipalities and some 42,000 companies. The group currently has around 3,800 employees across Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and North Macedonia.
Until now, Remondis has had only a limited presence on the Austrian market. The group holds a stake in a fridge recycling plant in Kematen, while its industrial services subsidiary Xervon is also active in the country.
Within Germany, Remondis's acquisitions are now subject to greater regulatory scrutiny. Due to the company's dominant market position, the national competition authority decided in late November to require the company to seek prior approval even for smaller acquisitions in certain segments of the waste management market.
This article was updated on 22 January to include information from Austrian press reports on the anticipated scale of the Saubermacher stake which Remondis plans to acquire.
