A fierce bidding war to acquire hazardous waste firm Augean has ended with a £390 million bid at auction.
The company has been fought over by a subsidiary of banking giant Morgan Stanley and newly formed company Eleia.
Yorkshire-based Augean operates across the hazardous waste management, oil and gas, nuclear and radioactive sectors.
Augean’s North Sea services subsidiary is based in Aberdeen.
The division operates from four sites in the Granite City and a facility in Peterhead.
After bids and counter bids stretching back to May, it was decided last week an auction for the group would take place.
Augean auction bids and what happens now?
Eleia has now succeeded with its offer of £3.72 per share, valuing Augean at about £390m.
Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partner (MSIP) failed with its increased offer of £3.61 a share.
Augean’s board said the increased Eleia offer was an “excellent outcome” for shareholders.
The deal will be funded by a combination of equity and debt.
A general meeting of shareholders to accept the takeover is due to be held the week of October 11.
If passed, Augean will then stop trading on the London Stock Exchange.
Augean’s shares were up around 0.5% at £3.69 at today’s market close (September 23).
Bids and counter bids for waste firm
The bidding action started in May when MSIP made an offer worth around £300m for Augean.
Eleia – a special purpose vehicle formed by investment funds managed by Ancala Partners and Fiera Infrastructure of Canada – entered the race with a £341m offer in August.
Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley put forward an improved offer of £356m.
But with neither suitor declaring their bid final, the auction process was announced.
Augean brought the first major decommissioning project to Tayside.
It worked on the Shell Curlew dismantling project at Port of Dundee for more than a year.
The company cut more than one-third of its North Sea services workforce last year.