Waste Services completes merger

IESI-BFC Ltd. and Waste Services, Inc. (WSI) have completed their merger which establishes North America’s third largest solid waste management company. The combined company, which will be headquartered in Toronto, will continue as IESI-BFC Ltd. and trade under the ticker symbol “BIN” on the New York and the Toronto Stock Exchanges.

The merged company will have more than 6,000 employees serving commercial, industrial and residential customers in 11 of the United States and the District of Columbia, and in 6 Canadian provinces. The transaction is expected to generate $25 to 30 million in net pre-tax annual run rate synergies by the end of the second year following closing.

Under the terms of the agreement, WSI shareholders will receive 0.5833 common shares of IESI-BFC for each WSI common share held. The 28.0 million common shares that IESI-BFC is issuing to WSI represent approximately 23.0 percent ownership in the combined company, assuming conversion of IESI-BFC’s Participating Preferred Shares (PPS). At close, IESI-BFC’s total number of outstanding common shares and PPSs is 121.4 million.

The combined company will be led by Keith Carrigan, IESI-BFC’s current vice chairman and chief executive officer. Thomas Cowee, vice president and chief financial officer of IESI-BFC, will continue in his current role.

The board of directors of the combined company will consist of eight members, including Carrigan, five directors from the IESI-BFC board of directors and two directors nominated by WSI. WSI has nominated Michael G. DeGroote and David Sutherland-Yoest.

IESI-BFC has also announced that it completed several tuck-in acquisitions in its United States operations since the beginning of its second fiscal quarter of 2010. Consideration for these acquisitions totalled in excess of $50 million and they were financed through borrowings under IESI-BFC’s United States revolving credit facility.