Advanced Disposal Begins Public Stock Offering; Aims to Reduce Debt

Advanced Disposal has launched its initial public offering (IPO) of more than 21 million shares of its common stock.

The Ponte Vedra, Fla.-based Advanced Disposal made the offering of 21,428,571 common shares, with the company offering 9,037,033 of the shares and the selling stockholder 12, 391,538 shares, according to a news release.

The New York Stock Exchange has approved Advanced Disposal’s common stock for listing under the ticker symbol “ADSW.”

The underwriters have the option to purchase from the selling stockholders up to an additional 3,214,285 shares of common stock. 

Advanced Disposal said it intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to repay outstanding borrowings under the Term Loan B portion of its senior secured credit facilities.

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Barclays Capital Inc. will serve as lead joint book-running managers and representatives of the underwriters for the offering.  Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, and UBS Securities LLC will also act as joint book-running managers, and SMBC Nikko Securities America Inc. and First Analysis Securities Corp. will act as co-managers. The offering will be made only through a prospectus.

 The company also made changes to its board of directors. It appointed Sergio Pedreiro a director, and former CEO Charlie Appleby and Quintella Filho have resigned from the board in connection with the transition to a public company.

Pedreiro was appointed as the designated director of BTGI Equity Investments, a stockholder and an affiliate of BTG Pactual.  He has been a director of Estre Ambiental S.A., a Brazilian waste management company.

Appleby retired as CEO in 2014, serving in that role since 2006. He was the company’s president and chief financial officer since its inception.

Quintella founded Estre in 1999. Estre was purchased by BTG Pactual.

 “The leadership of both these gentlemen has been vital to the growth and success of Advanced Disposal,” said CEO Richard Burke.

Advanced Disposal disclosed the IPO plan last August. Moody's Investors Service characterized the move as a partial IPO, with Highstar Capital remaining the majority shareholder.

Industry analyst Michael E. Hoffman, managing director, Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Inc., shared in an interview with Waste360 his thoughts on what he thought the move could mean. Hoffman says he believes the private equity team is driving the move because they need to start the long process of monetizing their investment.

He also says the IPO could get Advanced Disposal’s balance sheet to a place where there isn’t any deal the company couldn’t be involved in. Currently, Hoffman says, the leveraged balance sheet presents some restrictions.

Leone Young, Waste360 Business Insights columnist and industry analyst, also took a close look at what could be learned from the move through documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Advanced Disposal prefers markets where it can be vertically integrated or where the market is disposal neutral, and markets that are characterized by favorable dynamics and/or demographic trends, Young wrote from her review of the material. Specifically, the company intends to expand the business by adding new commercial and industrial customers, securing additional exclusive municipal contracts and executing tuck-in acquisitions. The company also noted a “relentless focus” on prudent cost management and pricing discipline.