Chris Carlson ([email protected])

Folsom, Calif.-based Waste Connections has finalized its acquisition of Harold LeMay Enterprises, Tacoma, Wash. The deal, which cost Waste Connections approximately $300 million, was first announced in August. It includes the acquisition of the remaining interests of Pierce County Recycling, Composting and Disposal along with Pierce County Landfill Management, both of which were majority-owned subsidiaires of Waste Connections.

"This is our largest single acquisition ever," says Ron Mittelstaedt, CEO of Waste Connections. "It adds 8 percent revenue to the company and solidifies us as the largest [hauler] in Washington and Oregon."

The move will add nearly $100 million in revenue for Waste Connections in 2009, Mittelstaedt says. LeMay, founded in 1942, is the largest privately held solid waste company in the Pacific Northwest. Virtually all of the company's 600 employees, 53 percent of which are non-umion workers, will be kept following the merger, Mittelstaedt says. He also adds that the integration process should go relatively smoothly. "There's really very little integration that needs to be done," he says, while adding LeMay will continue to run as a separate stand-alone entity.

In the latest Waste Age 100 ranking of the largest solid waste companies (which appeared in our June 2008 issue), Waste Connections ranked seventh, with $959 million in revenue in 2007. Harold LeMay ranked 29th, with $110 million in revenue last year. Houston-based Waste Management topped the list with $13.31 billion in 2007 revenue.

In its latest third-quarter earnings statement, Waste Connections reported a net income of $28.3 million on revenues of $273 million, compared to a net income of $28.7 million on revenues of $251 million for the same quarter in 2007.