Metso Outotec Hands Over Waste Recycling Business
With global waste management services valued well over US$50bn in 2019, recycling has proven to be an enormous task. As businesses are doing their best to reduce waste, and properly dispose of anything that remains, Metso Outotec, a multi-industry company, is handing over its waste management business.
A Bigger Sustainability Picture
Finding a new owner for its waste management arm does not mean Metso is handing over its efforts to reduce waste. For a company like Metso that operates in a few different industries, it has proven to be more beneficial to divest its waste recycling and metal recycling business lines. The company believes that handing this over will support the company’s wider business strategies, by focusing on its aggregate and mining operations.
While the companies have not announced the value of the acquisition, it will have a minor positive impact on Metso’s finances. According to the company’s financial statements, the waste recycling business has been declared part of its discontinued operations while the metal recycling arm is yet to be processed.
“We are very pleased that we have found a new owner for our business, whose strategic thinking and ambitions are so well aligned with ours,” says Uffe Hansen, Head of Waste Recycling Business at Metso Outotec. “As a standalone company with a sole focus on waste recycling, we will be more agile and customer-centric in order to further exploit growth opportunities.”
Waste recycling will be handed over to Ahlström Capital, a family-owned investment company based in Finland, which has a long 170-year history of asset management and invests heavily in industrial companies, real estate and forests. The new headquarters for the business will be based in Horsens, Denmark, and it will operate under the M&J brand. Lasse Heinonen, President and Chief Executive Officer at Ahlström Capital, has spoken about the acquisition. “The Waste Recycling business, M&J, has a proven track record with a strong growth profile, in an attractive market,” says Heinonen.
“The business is well-positioned to help drive sustainable development with its premium brand offering, robust operations and skilled personnel. I believe that Ahlström Capital as an owner will bring further focus on and resources for growth initiatives and support the standalone business to reach its full potential.”
Combining such a high level of expertise in asset management with a well-developed infrastructure - including 120 personnel to be carried over - is likely to be a suitable method of expanding the waste management business.
