Warburg Pincus sells its stake in Transpacific
PRIVATE equity firm Warburg Pincus sold its entire 33.9 per cent stake in Australian waste management firm Transpacific Industries Group through UBS, Reuters news agency reported yesterday, citing the Australian Financial Review newspaper.
Demand from investors saw an initial offering of A$400m (£238m) of Transpacific stock at A$1.05 per share increased to A$570m worth, the newspaper reported.
Warburg Pincus became a cornerstone investor in Brisbane-based Transpacific in 2009 when it bought a 33.9 per cent stake via placement and rights issue at A$1.80 and A$1.20 a share. The private equity firm also participated in a rights issue at 50 cents a share in 2011.
A Warburg Pincus source told Reuters that it had invested a total of A$521.5m in Transpacific, its sole investment in Australia.
Transpacific last week said it had hired Deutsche Bank to sell its New Zealand waste management unit – which has previously been reported as being worth as much as NZ$900 m ($743m) – to focus on growing its Australian arm. Shares in the recycling, waste management firm rose to their highest level in more than two years and closed at A$1.12 on Friday.