Covanta to Acquire Circon

MORRISTOWN, NJ – Today, Covanta, a leader in sustainable materials management, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Circon Holdings, Inc. (“Circon”) a portfolio company of Kinderhook Industries (“Kinderhook”), putting into motion the company’s most transformative acquisition in its history. The addition of Circon, which is subject to customary regulatory approvals, marks the largest single acquisition for Covanta in two decades, bringing with it more than 600 new employees and 2,500 customers. It is the company’s eighth acquisition following its purchase by EQT Infrastructure. It further demonstrates Covanta’s commitment to providing carbon negative solutions to its customers.

Headquartered in La Porte, Texas, Circon is a full-service provider of environmental services with a customer base across more than 20 waste facilities in the Midwest, Southeast and Gulf Coast. This acquisition is noteworthy for Covanta due to Circon’s geographic reach over multiple regions of the country and its suite of circularity offerings in wastewater treatment, and non-hazardous and hazardous waste management. Circon amplifies Covanta’s ability to provide more last-mile sustainability solutions to its blue-chip customer base and transform their waste into value-based materials.

“Covanta, with Circon’s new geographies and complementary capabilities, will offer the absolute highest value proposition for customers, with full integration across logistics, field services, processing and disposal,” said Azeez Mohammed, President and CEO of Covanta. “This acquisition accelerates our flightpath to becoming the premier company for sustainable materials management. With Circon, we are enhancing our carbon negative solutions and bringing our offerings to the next level. We’re excited about this development and look forward to welcoming Circon’s impressive team. Together we’ll continue to transform Covanta into the very best service provider for our customers’ unique environmental challenges and ESG goals.”

The addition of Circon’s services specifically doubles Covanta’s wastewater footprint, grows its engineered fuels business five-fold, and catapults Covanta into a leader in the growing alternative fuels field for kilns. It also meaningfully expands the company’s footprint in the Gulf Coast and Midwest regions.

“The entire Circon team is grateful for the successful partnership with Kinderhook. We are eager to launch into our next phase of growth with Covanta. After all, we were both built on the tenet of sustainability with the goal of minimizing waste and embracing a circular economy through innovative and environmentally conscious services,” said Frank Iezzi, CEO of Circon. “We will continue to deliver on these sustainable offerings, now dramatically enhanced with the expanded network, increased operational efficiency and strong environmental solutions-based innovations from Covanta. This is exactly what will take our waste management services—and entire industry—to the next level.”

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is serving as legal advisor to Covanta. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal advisor to Circon. Brown Gibbons Lang & Company and Houlihan Lokey are serving as financial advisors to Circon.

About Covanta

Covanta is a leader in sustainable materials management providing environmental services to businesses and communities. Through its network of facilities and state-of-the-art services, Covanta is a single-source partner in solving today's most complex environmental challenges. For more information, visit covanta.com.

About Circon

Circon is a sustainability-focused full-service provider of environmental services with a customer base across more than 20 waste facilities in the Midwest, Southeast and Gulf Coast. The company offers a suite of circularity focused offerings in wastewater treatment, and non-hazardous and hazardous waste management.