Republic Services and Allied Waste complete merger plans

Republic Services, Inc. and Allied Waste Industries, Inc. disclosed that they are poised to implement their plans to complete the merger in the fourth quarter of 2008. The companies are highly confident that they will meet the projected $150 million of merger synergies in the third year following completion of the transaction.

“As we move through the planning process and get closer to the completion of this merger, we are very confident that we will be able to achieve value for our shareholders by building on both companies’ foundations of profitable growth,” said Jim O’Connor, chairman and CEO of Republic Services.

Republic Services and Allied Waste began the integration planning process immediately after the announcement of their definitive merger agreement by forming 17 functional teams of corporate, regional and local representatives from both companies. Over the past three months, these teams have invested more than 12,000 man-hours in planning for the smooth and successful merger of Republic and Allied. A large part of the planning process included the review and selection of the operating systems that will be used by the combined company. Additionally, the companies have named the top 70 executives and managers of the combined company.