DUBLIN-BASED investment group One51, which is headed by Philip Lynch, has made an approach to acquire the publicly quoted UK hazardous waste business Augean.
One51 is Augean's biggest shareholder with a 26.89 per cent stake. In a statement released to the London Stock Exchange late yesterday afternoon, One51 confirmed that it had "approached the board of Augean about the possibility of making an offer for the entire issued and to-be-issued share capital" of the Yorkshire-based company.
"A further announcement will be made in due course," One51 added.
Augean had earlier informed the stock market that it had received "a number of preliminary approaches" that "may or may not lead to an offer for the company at a significant premium to the current share price".
Augean added that all of the discussions were at an "early stage".
News of the approach boosted Augean's share price by 38 per cent in London yesterday to 94.25 pence from its opening level of 68.25 pence. This valued the company at £44.7 million (€56.13 million).
One51, which is being advised by Davy Corporate Finance, owns 17.6 million ordinary shares in Augean, placing it in a strong position to win any potential bidding war for the UK waste group.
The Irish company spent €25-30 million building its stake in Augean two years ago, but had seen the value of its investment decline as the UK company experienced difficult trading.
Augean is involved in the collection of hazardous waste material in Britain and also owns landfill sites for disposal. It operates from 11 sites and employs more than 200 staff.
The Yorkshire-based company made a loss of £23.9 million in the year to the end of 2007 after booking an exceptional charge of £26.8 million relating to a goodwill impairment. Its revenues, excluding landfill tax, rose by 5 per cent to £22.6 million last year, while its operating profit grew by 8 per cent to £4.9 million.
Augean has refocused its business in recent years on hazardous waste and landfill. The company said yesterday it was "starting to witness a considerable, sustained, upturn in activity at our landfill sites and a strong performance in our treatment operations".
The board said it was "confident that current year market expectations will be achieved and . . . could be exceeded" following the signing of contracts with large new customers.
