A subsidiary of Lidl owner Schwarz Group has bought the waste and recycling services of Ferrovial in Spain and Portugal.
Ferrovial will sell its environmental services division in these countries to PreZero for €1.133 billion (£962 million) including equity and debt.
In 2020, the environmental services division had revenues of €1.018 billion (£867 million) and it employs 16,000 people.
It has 140 plants under management and processes 5.6 million tonnes of waste per year.
PreZero has 13,000 employees at over 280 locations in Europe and North America and recently bought Suez’s recycling and recovery operations in four European countries.
Ferrovial chief executive Ignacio Madridejos said: “This deal is consistent with Ferrovial’s strategic roadmap, which is focused on developing sustainable infrastructure. New technology, changes in citizens’ habits, and the demands of society make it necessary to adopt this approach to continue creating value for our shareholders, our stakeholders, and the communities in which we operate.
“We are also very pleased to leave our Environmental Services business in Spain and Portugal in the hands of PreZero, an international enterprise in waste and recycling management with the highest ESG standards.”
PreZero chief executive Thomas Kyriakis added: “The planned acquisition is the next step in PreZero’s expansion, with which we intend to further expand our activities in Southern Europe.
“Ferrovial is excellently established in the field of environmental management and ideally complements PreZero’s portfolio. In the process, we anticipate valuable synergies and an additional starting point for the further development of the circular economy in Europe.”
The transaction is expected to complete in the second half of this year, subject to European regulatory approval.
