Waste Management Buys Arkansas’ D.C. Trash

Waste Management Inc. has purchased D.C. Trash Service in Russellville, Ark., for an undisclosed amount.

D.C. Trash covers communities in the Arkansas River Valley, from Faulkner County to Ozark County, said George Wheatley, a regional spokesman for the Houston-basecd company, in an e-mail.

The newly acquired company provides residential waste and recycling collection, commercial collection and roll-off (permanent and temporary).

Waste Management will keep all the current employees.

Dardanelle, Ark., is one of the cities served by D.C. Trash. The city council there approved the deal, transferring contracts and obligations to Waste Management. The city has a two-year contract with D.C. Trash that will continue.

Waste360 columnist Leone Young said in her June Business Insights that merger and acquisition (M&A) valuations are a stumbling block. Many potential deals are proposed, but seller expectations often are too high.

At the WasteExpo Heavy Hitters panel in June Waste Management CEO David Steiner said that the company can see “the light at the end of the tunnel” regarding the general economic downturn of a few years ago. He said the company’s path to growth is “2+2,” that is, 2-percent volume growth and 2-percent pricing growth.

Waste Management completed its giant waste hauler acquisition in March–the purchase of Deffenbaugh Disposal Inc. for more than $400 million. The Kansas City, Kan.–based waste and recycling firm had 2013 revenue of about $180 million.

The deal went through after Waste Management agreed with the Justice Department to divest small and commercial waste collection assets in Arkansas and Kansas, according to the department.