Montagu Private Equity ("Montagu") and Global Infrastructure Partners ("GIP"), Biffa Ltd.'s ("Biffa") controlling shareholders, have reached an agreement to acquire Greenstar UK ("Greenstar") from NTR plc ("NTR"), for a consideration of £135 million. The transaction is subject to regulatory and various other approvals.

It is expected that Greenstar will be integrated with Biffa, one of the UK's leading waste management and energy recovery businesses. The acquisition will cement Biffa's position as the leading integrated collection, recycling, resource recovery and energy-from-waste provider in the UK.

The Greenstar acquisition is complementary and provides a strong fit with Biffa's strategy to grow its recycling footprint and increase its capacity to provide innovative and tailored waste management solutions to its customers in the UK. Greenstar's assets and commercial reach will add new capacity and significantly accelerate Biffa's growth plans in the municipal, industrial and commercial and recycling markets.

Biffa has the largest industrial and commercial collections network in the UK serving over 70,000 customers through 1,450 collection vehicles and across 128 locations. It operates 65 million m3 of landfill void across 24 sites throughout the UK and a renewable energy business with 103 MW of installed capacity. It currently handles 7 million tonnes of waste each year, processes approximately half a million tonnes of recyclables through nine recycling facilities and operates two PFI contracts.

Greenstar is one of the premier recycling-led waste management service providers in the UK. Its operations provide recycling waste management solutions to a large number of blue chip clients in the commercial and industrial sectors. Greenstar's truck fleet of 569 vehicles provides collection services to 23 local authorities and over 900,000 homes and it operates some of the largest materials recycling facilities in the UK. The business employs over 2,000 people and reported sales of £145 million in 2009.

Mark Keough, interim CEO of Biffa, commented:

"This acquisition significantly accelerates Biffa's strategic plans to transition to a recycling and energy-from-waste focused integrated waste management company. Greenstar's substantial recycling platform and commercial approach combined with Biffa's operational capability and national reach will enable Biffa to provide complete waste management solutions to its growing customer base."

Ian Wakelin, CEO of Greenstar UK, commented:

"Since its inception in 2001, Greenstar has grown to be one of the UK's leading recycling-led waste management companies and NTR has been a strong, supportive partner in this drive. Going forward and building on the strengths of both organisations, the combined company will be a market-leading, dynamic and customer-focused organisation. I look forward to working with the Biffa team to bring this about."

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