Q&A: Meridian Waste CEO Walter Hall Discusses Mergers and Acquisitions

Well-calculated acquisitions drive waste management companies’ growth. In this Q&A, Meridian CEO Walter “Wally” Hall, Jr shares some of the Charlotte, North Carolina-based operation’s M&A strategies. The company now serves about 525,000 residential, commercial, industrial, and government customers in eight states.

Hall discusses entering new marketplaces and how Meridian built an initial acquisition into one of the company’s highest financial performing marketplaces.  He illuminates on winning municipal collections contracts. And he talks of Meridian’s best year for acquisitions and COVID’s role in that boom.

Waste360: Can you get us up to speed on Meridian’s M&A history, from that first deal to today?  

Hall: While Meridian Waste started, as many solid waste companies do, with smaller independent companies operating in defined geographic areas like St. Louis, Missouri (MSW landfill & hauling operations) and Petersburg, Virginia (MSW landfill, transfer station and hauling operations), we underwent a transformational change when Warren Equity Partners purchased  the waste operations from the publicly traded company Meridian Waste Solutions in April 2018, and took the company private while restructuring the operation’s debt, access to capital, and leadership. 

We have acquired 30 companies since Warren Equity Partners purchased the stock of Meridian Waste Solutions. (Operating in 8 states). And we have done 35 acquisitions since the original creation of Meridian Waste Solutions.

Today, the company operates in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. We run 31 hauling companies, six transfer stations, two recycling facilities/MRF’s, three municipal solid waste landfills, and four C&D landfills, combined.

Waste360: How do you find opportunities, and where do you look for them?

Hall: Opportunities are discovered in many ways including market research, word of mouth, brokered sales, and every now and then luck!  We prescribe to all of these methods, and we encourage our market area team members in the field to scout out opportunities and acquisitions that could benefit the company.  It is extremely important that we develop a culture of ownership among our local managers and allow them the time and responsibility to find tuck-in and privatization opportunities to enhance their business units.

Our Southeast growth is a map of the opportunities we have discovered and chosen to aggressively pursue.  Recognizing that each marketplace is unique and giving the local management and field staff the tools to build upon and benefit from the assets we have in each market helps to make us extremely competitive and successful in the locations where we operate.

Waste360: What’s a good example showing how Meridian was able to successfully enter a new market?

Hall: The initial acquisition of the Shotwell Companies in January 2020 is a strong example of success in entering into a new marketplace (Raleigh, NC) via an initial acquisition. We built that first acquisition into the company’s largest geographic and one of its highest financial performing marketplaces.   

The acquired assets included the Shotwell Construction and Demolition Debris (C&D) Landfill in Wendell, North Carolina; the Shotwell Transfer Station II (C&D) in Apex, North Carolina; Capitol Waste Transfer Station (C&D) in Raleigh, North Carolina; and the municipal solid waste (MSW) transfer station known as the Morrisville Transfer Station in Morrisville, North Carolina.

With the Shotwell C&D disposal assets in place and the opening of the Morrisville MSW transfer station allowing for the internalization of waste at the company’s Lunenburg Landfill in Virginia, we had the infrastructure to build a hauling operation to rival the local competition and become a prominent industry contender in the Triangle region, which continues to experience explosive growth.  

Waste360: Tell us more about how you built the hauling component of the Shotwell Companies acquisition. And how did this pay off?

Hall: The hauling company was built through a joint effort of organic growth for C&D and MSW collections and strategic tuck-in acquisitions as exhibited by the 2021 assets purchases of McConnell Waste Systems, Dumpstars, and Discount Dumpsters.  

These acquisitions allowed for greater route density, higher disposal internalization and introduced Meridian Waste to the portable restroom business.  

We have found that our acquired partners are our best marketing advocates as they have introduced us to other prospect acquisitions and can share first-hand insight as to the character and commitment of our corporate leaders and local managers. 

A perfect example of this is the introduction to Kent Coble, owner of Coble’s Sandrock, a C&D landfill in Alamance County, North Carolina, by Jeff McConnell, owner of McConnell Waste Systems.  Coble Sandrock  had acquired McConnell Waste, and Jeff McConnell was good friends with Mr. Coble.  While no one had been able to crack Mr. Coble’s strong resistance to selling his disposal site, through the relationship of McConnell and his positive experience with Meridian Waste, a transaction was structured and closed.

Now Mr. Coble’s two daughters remain with the company as key employees, and Mr. Coble, himself, at no charge, plants the corn and pumpkins for the Tri-Corners Landfill’s A-MAZE-ing Pumpkin Patch, welcoming neighbors and community members from across the county to a family-friendly day at the landfill.

Waste360: Once you were well established in Raliegh, what was your next move? And what informed that move?

Hall: With a firm foothold in Raleigh, Meridian Waste began expanding its geographic footprint southwest to Goldston, North Carolina in 2022, acquiring the assets of Pinnacle Waste, which added a new C&D transfer station to internalize waste to Shotwell Landfill, Triad Waste, Capital Dumpster Service, and NC Dumpster.  

With the existing infrastructure in Goldston and now Sandford, North Carolina, Meridian Waste successfully proposed and won its first North Carolina municipal residential collections contract with the Town of Southern Pines, which begins January 1, 2025.

Expansion continued in 2023 with entrance into the Piedmont Triad region of Greensboro / Winston-Salem with the acquisition of our second North Carolina C&D landfill, Coble’s Sandrock, and the hauling assets of Coble’s container services in Liberty, North Carolina.  

We have invested in additional collection trucks and containers as well as portable restrooms, benefiting from the economic development activity of the Piedmont Triad Partnership and significant growth throughout the region.  

Waste360: What was your best year for acquisitions? And what made it so?

Hall: Our most active year for acquisitions was 2021.  Many independent company owners were frustrated with the financial and operational challenges created as a result of the COVID pandemic and were happy to have an exit opportunity.  This was the year Meridian Waste expanded its Raleigh, North Carolina operations with three acquisitions; entered the Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina market with two acquisitions; and was awarded its first substantial (78,000+) home residential franchise with the City of Jacksonville, Florida. 

Waste360: What are your thoughts on taking risks?

Hall:  Risk is an integral part of managing and growing Meridian Waste as it is in any for-profit enterprise.  There is always a risk / reward correlation that must be considered.  However, embracing risk, after a thorough investigation as to the discoverable facts or possible outcomes, is an absolute necessity to growing a business.  I’ve always said that one must make a decision.  Doing nothing gets us nowhere, and simply is not acceptable to our customers, employees, or shareholders. 

Waste360: What are Meridian’s next plans in the M&A space?

Hall:  Our entrance into the Alabama and Mississippi marketplaces represents our most recent (9/1/2024) and largest acquisition to date, but it’s certainly not our last.  We maintain a strong pipeline of opportunities through both traditional acquisitions and municipal contract wins. 

We are poised for future growth with the support of our private equity partner, Warren Equity Partners, and remain focused on building a customer-focused, well financed, independent company to service our Southeastern communities now and into the future.