China Everbright acquires Polish waste management firm

Hong Kong-based environmental services provider China Everbright International has completed its acquisition of Polish waste management and recycling firm, Novago.

The acquisition was worth approximately €123 million, including an equity purchase price of €118 million and €5 million for the land bank.

According to Everbright,  the deal marks the beginning of the its foray into the European waste treatment industry and another step forward in the implementation of Everbright International's strategy of developing from domestic to overseas markets. 

The purchase is also the first Sino-Polish cooperation project China Everbright Group has committed to implementing since President Xi Jinping's visit to Poland in June 2016.

According to Everbright,  the deal marks a watershed moment for the environmental protection industry in Central and Eastern Europe as it is the largest such acquisition to be made by a Chinese company.

Established in 1992, Novago owns six integrated waste treatment plants located across four provinces in Poland, with a combined solid waste treatment capacity of 890,000 tonnes in 2015.

"This acquisition has been made possible by the good potential for technological cooperation between our two companies,” commented Chen Xiaoping, CEO of Everbright International.

“Everbright International is already very sophisticated in terms of waste incineration technologies and equipment manufacturing capability while Novago is the largest independent solid waste treatment company in Poland,” he added.