GIC-backed GFL Environmental Of Canada Files For A Likely $1.5b IPO

Canadian waste management firm GFL Environmental Inc, backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering (IPO).

The filing is heavily redacted and GFL Environmental has not specified the number and price of subordinate voting shares to be sold. Several reports said the amount it specified in the filing could be a placeholder as the IPO could raise an estimated $1.5 billion.

According to a Bloomberg report, the IPO would value the Vaughan, Canada-based company at about $15 billion. GLF Environmental plans to dual list on the Toronto Stock Exchange and an unnamed US exchange.

GFL will have two classes of shares: subordinate voting shares and multiple voting shares. The latter will be held by founder and CEO Patrick Dovigi. The company plans to use the net proceeds from this offering to repay certain indebtedness.

“Upon completion of the offering, BC Partners, Ontario Teachers’, and Magny Cours Investment Pte Ltd, an affiliate of GIC Private Ltd, will collectively, directly or indirectly, own or control certain percentage of the issued and outstanding subordinate voting shares,” the company said.

GFL, North America’s fourth-largest waste management firm, was founded in 2007 and booked $1.7 billion in historical sales for the 12 months ended March 31, 2019. Between fiscal 2016 and 2018, the company said it grew revenue from $934 million to $2.7 billion.

The company operates throughout Canada and in 23 states in the United States, serving over four million households. It services include non-hazardous solid waste management, infrastructure & soil remediation, and liquid waste management services.

According to Bloomberg data, the $1.5 billion IPO would be the biggest in Canada since the $1.53 billion offering of PrairieSky Royalty Ltd in 2014. It also comes at a time that the North American environmental services industry remains large and stable.

Data from the Environmental Business Journal showed that the industry totaled approximately $434 billion in 2018 based on annual revenue on the back of an attractive macroeconomic and demographic environment.

GIC is an active investor in the global waste management industry. In May, the sovereign wealth fund acquired a minority stake in midstream waste-water management firm WaterBridge Resources from US-based private equity Five Point Energy. The investment scrapped WaterBridge’s planned IPO.