Veolia, the French utility giant capitalised at €24.59 billion ($40 billion) on the Euronext exchange, has swooped on a key division of Next Capital’s Enviropacific Solutions. The Paris-based waste management company – best known for going toe-to-toe with ASX-listed Cleanaway for the top spot in the local waste market – has paid about $200 million for Enviropacific’s services unit, said people with knowledge of the deal.
Enviropacific Solutions is an environmental rehabilitation business that was put up for sale as a whole by private equity firm Next Capital in 2024.
At the time, the sell-side camp pitched Enviropacific Solutions as the market leader in remediating environmental contamination and said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were heading towards $40 million. The business had been overseen by gun deal maker Bing Jiang, who was credited with doubling earnings in the three years since Next Capital had bought its majority stake from Adexum Capital.
A major selling point was that the business was a beneficiary of heightened regulatory scrutiny related to PFAS “forever chemicals”, used in everyday objects and known to be toxic to humans and the environment. Australia was due to phase out several PFAS compounds from the end of the 2025 financial year – and potential suitors were told Enviropacific was in the box seat to clean up the decades of build-up left behind.
Next Capital was advised by Stanton Road Partners on the Enviropacific Services transaction, while Veolia ANZ was self-advised. Of note, Enviropacific Solutions’ remaining division – waste treatment facility SOLVE, which was established in 2019 to treat hazardous, acute and recalcitrant industrial wastes such as solids, liquids, and slurries – is expected to be sold via a separate sale process, the anonymous sources said.
Apex predator
Since acquiring Suez Australia’s assets in 2022 as part of a global merger, Veolia Australia and New Zealand’s internal M&A team has established itself as a prime consolidator in the local waste management sector and adjacent industries.
Veolia ANZ’s deal sheet includes last year’s acquisition of WA engineering and asset maintenance service provider Orontide. That came hot on the heels of the purchase of NSW-based provider of septic waste collection, transport and treatment services, Brandster.
In 2024, it acquired Electricity In A Box, an energy retailer that pitched itself as the “fastest electricity activation” service for residential and commercial customers.
