US Ecology Sells EQ Environmental Cleaning Unit

US Ecology Inc. has sold off one of the businesses it acquired with its purchase of EQ Holdings Inc. – Allstate Power-Vac Inc., an environmental cleaning firm.

The Boise, Idaho-based US Ecology sold Allstate, based in Rahway, N.J., to a private investor group, the company said in a news release. The value of the deal is about $58 million, a consideration subject to adjustments, the company said.

Allstate provides industrial cleaning and maintenance for utilities, refineries, chemical plants, paper mills and refinery services such as tank cleaning, centrifuge and temporary storage. It provides infrastructure support primarily to utilities and pipelines including hydro-excavation, sewer cleaning, sewer line inspection and rehabilitation services, with activities primarily in the Northeast United States.

US Ecology bought Allstate and other industrial services businesses in its 2014 purchase of EQ Holdings.

"After careful evaluation we concluded that Allstate Power-Vac does not adequately complement our strategy given its lack of geographic proximity to our core environmental service offerings," said Chairman and CEO Jeff Feeler. "Divesting Allstate will allow us to concentrate on growing our core environmental services business while continuing to expand our complementary field services.”

US Ecology expects to use the proceeds from the transaction to reduce debt.

Allstate represents about $30.9 million in revenue for the company’s first six months of 2015.  It was part of the Field and Industrial Services segment, which US Ecology acquired from EQ – The Environmental Quality Company, and provides hazardous waste collection and transportation, among other services.

US Ecology manages hazardous, non-hazardous and radioactive waste, as well as a range of complementary field and technical services. The purchase of Wayne, Mich.-based EQ was valued at $465 million. EQ operates one hazardous waste permitted landfill located outside of Detroit, 13 waste treatment and recycling facilities and 21 dedicated service centers throughout the eastern United States.

In January US Ecology unified all company operations under a redesigned brand, with the aim of conveying its position in the marketplace “as a premier provider of environmental solutions to customers across North America.” It said one central brand will strengthen its ability to provide turnkey environmental and other services through a nationwide network of assets.