GFL and American Waste Announce Merger

Toronto-based GFL Environmental Inc. and American Waste announced on January 10 that they have entered into a definitive agreement for GFL to acquire American Waste's solid and liquid waste businesses in Michigan and Pennsylvania. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in February.

Founded in 1971 as Northern A-1 by their father, Edward Ascione Sr., Michael and Edward Ascione have since grown American Waste and Northern A-1 to be a leading vertically integrated provider of environmental solutions for a broad base of solid and liquid waste customers. Michael and Edward Ascione will be joining GFL and will continue to manage the American Waste businesses.

"The strong family and entrepreneurial values that have been the key to American Waste's success align with GFL's core values and strategy,” said Patrick Dovigi, GFL's founder and CEO, in a statement. “American Waste and Northern A-1 have a committed, passionate employee base that bring the same level of commitment to service excellence for our customers as do GFL's employees. We are confident that this common commitment will make the integration of our service offerings seamless and allow us to continue to grow, to serve our customers and to provide opportunities for our employees. We are excited to have Mike and Eddie and all of the employees of American Waste and Northern A-1 join the GFL team." 

"Mike and I carefully chose to merge with GFL because of our similar lines of business, GFL's down-to-earth senior management team and decentralized operations approach,” said Eddie Ascione in a statement. “We are confident that the strategic fit with GFL represents a great opportunity for our company and our employees to accelerate to the next chapter of growth while maintaining the values we share with GFL reflecting our commitment to our employees, safety and our customers. We believe American and Northern A-1's expertise in serving both our solid and liquid waste customers is a great fit with GFL's focus on delivering comprehensive environmental solutions. Mike and I are excited to be able to continue to lead American Waste and Northern A-1 into the future with GFL."

In addition, GFL, North America's fourth-largest diversified waste management firm, reported financial results for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, in an amendment filed with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 8, according to Nasdaq.

Nasdaq reports that GFL removed the terms of its initial public offering (IPO) but had originally planned to raise $1.9 billion at a $6.9 billion market cap before postponing in November 2019.

In its latest filing, GFL also removed all 15 underwriters except BC Partners Securities, added three members to its board of directors and disclosed a tangible equity units offering that will occur concurrently with its IPO, Nasdaq reports.

In November, GFL announced it would cancel its initial public offering after share sales fell below the marketed value range. Last summer, the company filed its IPO registration statement with the SEC and a preliminary base PREP prospectus for an IPO of subordinate voting shares concurrently in the United States and Canada.