A consortium led by Australian private equity firm CPE Capital has made a $2 billion-plus bid to buy ASX-listed waste collections and recycling group Bingo Industries.
It is understood CPE Capital and its partners, believed to include an infrastructure fund run by Macquarie Group, made a formal offer to acquire Bingo in December and have held advanced talks with the company.
The bid was understood to be indicative and non-binding and was made subject to a handful of conditions including due diligence and funding.Sources said the consortium viewed Bingo as a defensive growth play - and a key player in Australia's waste market.
The bid marks a milestone in Bingo's ascension from a family-owned small business that provided skip bins and collected building and demolition waste to one of the country's biggest waste management companies targeting building, commercial and industrial waste collection and processing.
The Sydney-based Tartak family listed Bingo on the ASX in 2017 and, after a string of acquisitions, it trades with a $1.78 billion market capitalisation to be the country's second largest listed waste collector. Analysts expect the group to report $481 million revenue and $136 million earnings in the 2021 financial year.
It is understood Bingo's board has called in investment bank UBS and law firm Herbert Smith Freehills to help assess the CPE Capital consortium's offer and spearhead talks. Bingo's chairman is former KPMG audit partner Michael Coleman. Coleman is also on Macquarie Group's board.
CPE Capital has Goldman Sachs, Gilbert + Tobin and KPMG in its corner, sources said.
$2.5 billion plus deal
The offer is understood to value Bingo at more than $2.5 billion, including debt. The group had $308.2 million net bank debt (borrowings less cash) as at June 30.
CPE Capital's interest comes 15 months after it agreed to buy one of Bingo's processing facilities in Sydney. CPE Capital paid $50 million for Bingo's Banksmeadow site, after Bingo was asked to divest the asset so it could acquire Ian Malouf's Dial-A-Dump.
Sources said Macquarie's infrastructure investment arm, Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA), was a substantial member of the bidding consortium. MIRA has more than $US130 billion in assets under management and its Australian investments include telecommunications tower company Axicom, data centre developer AirTrunk, coal carrier and intermodal transport network owner One Rail Australia, NSW electricity distributor Endeavour Energy and land titles offices in South Australia and Western Australia.
MIRA's investments also include waste businesses in North America and Europe.
Street Talk first flagged bidder interest in Bingo in December. As reported, the major hurdle for potential acquirers, including CPE Capital and its partners, is Bingo's share price. Bingo shares were trading at $2.74 on Monday, to value the group at 15.1-times forward earnings before interest, tax, depreciation or 44-times expected profit. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 is trading at 20.9-times forecast 2021 financial year profit.
It's a big move by Sydney-based CPE Capital, which is one of Australia's oldest private equity firms and was recently rebadged from CHAMP Private Equity.
CPE Capital traditionally targets investments worth up to a few hundred million dollars and its investments include Bingo's Banksmeadow, biscuit maker Gourmet Food Holdings and luxury car dealer The Dutton Group.
However, CPE Capital is cashed-up, thanks to a recent fundraising, and is understood to have secured firm support from MIRA and other investors.
Spokespeople for CPE Capital and MIRA declined to comment. Bingo was contacted for comment, Bingo shares were up 0.7 per cent to $2.74 on Monday.
