US Ecology To Buy EQ For $465 Mln

(RTTNews) - US Ecology, Inc. (ECOL) Monday said it has agreed to buy The Environmental Quality Company, or EQ, for $465 million in a stock-based transaction.

US Ecology also said the acquisition will be financed through a combination of cash on hand and committed debt financing, comprising a new $540 million credit facility made up of about $415 million in a 7-year Term Loan and a $125 million 5-year Revolving Credit Facility.

The acquisition, which is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2014, is expected to be immediately accretive to US Ecology's adjusted earnings per share before synergies for the year 2014. However, US Ecology said it is not updating guidance at this time.

EQ, a Michigan-based environmental services and waste management company owned by an affiliate of New York based private equity fund Kinderhook Industries, LLC, had generated pro forma revenue of about $376 million after pro forma adjustment for its 2013 acquisition of Allstate Power Vac, Inc.

Commenting on the transaction, US Ecology's President and CEO said, "The addition of EQ to US Ecology's family of permitted facilities will provide us with an expanded environmental services platform, broadening our geographic footprint and providing for a greater array of services to better meet the needs of our customers."