French group Séché Environnement completed the acquisition of Singapore-based hazardous waste management firm Eco Industrial Environmental Engineering in mid-July. The transaction was carried out by a local Séché subsidiary, the group announced. The purchase price of SGD608m (around €416m) was financed by a bank credit facility.
"With this acquisition, our group positions itself as a regional leader in the heart of one of the world’s most dynamic industrial regions," commented Maxime Séché, Chief Executive Officer of Séché Environnement. Eco has a market share of around 32 per cent, making it "the number one operator in Singapore’s hazardous waste recovery and treatment markets," the buyer said in a press release.
The newly acquired company has around 300 employees and operates an integrated hazardous waste recovery and treatment centre with a capacity of 440,000 tpa at its 68,400 m² site. According to Séché, Eco has the authorizations required to manage various types of solid, gaseous, and liquid hazardous waste – including industrial wastewater treatment plant sludge.
The firm has "a diversified customer base of blue-chip industrials belonging to the core target sectors of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, energy and renewables and semiconductors." With a fleet of 35 vehicles, Eco provides collection, transportation, recovery, and treatment services for hazardous waste as well as depollution. It is also active in niche markets such as the treatment of soot waste from syngas production and the recovery of activated carbon.
In 2023, Eco reported a turnover of around SGD96m (€66m) and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of approximately SGD41m (€28m).
Séché Environnement has three main business areas: circular economy and decarbonisation, hazardous waste management and environmental services. The environmental services business, which focuses on depollution and rehabilitation of polluted sites, generates nearly half the group’s revenues (46 per cent). Hazardous waste accounts for 20 per cent, while the "circular economy and decarbonisation" segment contributes 34 per cent of total revenue.
In 2023, Séché Environnement’s turnover of €1.014bn exceeded the one billion euro mark for the first time. Compared with the previous year, this represented an increase of 13 per cent. Ebitda rose by 8 per cent to around €218m and net profit came in at €50m, up by around 4 per cent over the previous year. In addition to organic growth, the increase was driven by various acquisitions in France and abroad, the company said.
In France, for example, the group completed the takeover of Veolia’s industrial water treatment activities in 2023. In 2022, Séché Environnement had also been interested in purchasing Veolia’s hazardous waste activities, but these were ultimately sold to Suez. Outside of France, Séché is primarily active in Italy and Africa (South Africa and Namibia).
