Transpacific Will Buy Cleanaway for A$1 Billion, Review...

Transpacific Will Buy Cleanaway for A$1 Billion, Review Says
2007-05-15 17:20 (New York)


By Emma O'Brien
May 16 (Bloomberg) -- Transpacific Industries Group Ltd. will
buy waste-collection business BIS Cleanaway Holdings Ltd. for
more than A$1 billion ($736 million) in a deal to be announced
today, the Australian Financial Review said.
The acquisition comes 11 months after Kohlberg Kravis
Roberts & Co., the world's largest private equity firm, bought
Cleanaway from the Sydney-based Brambles Industries Ltd., the
report said. Transpacific requested a trading halt in its shares
yesterday, and Cleanaway asked for a halt on trading of its
listed notes, according to the newspaper.
KKR, the lead member of a syndicate taking part in a A$20
billion auction for Australian retailer Coles Group Ltd., had
difficulty improving Cleanaway's operations as staff left to work
for its competitors, the Review said, citing people it did not
identify.
Transpacific is expected to raise equity to fund the buyout
after it has approval from the Australian regulator, the report
said.