Triton in €1.1bn Spanish recycling deal

Triton has bought Befesa.

Triton Partners appears to have started spending its €3.3 billion Fund IV with the €850 million purchase of Befesa, an industrial recycling business, from Spanish trade buyer Abengoa. 

Expected to complete in mid-July, it is the first deal Triton has revealed since December 2012, when its Fund III purchased Suomen Lähikauppa, a Finish grocery chain, from IK Investment Partners.

Triton was unavailable for comment at press time.

The total deal value was €1.1 billion, comprising an €850 million cash component and assumed debt in the form of a €225 million convertible instrument, according to a statement. The debt will convert to 14.1 percent of common equity on exit, pending 'certain events', it noted. 

Triton and Abengoa had been in exclusive talks since April, according to a separate Befesa statement. 

Peder Prahl, director at Triton, said in the statement the business had “an outstanding position in the European market and great potential to take advantage of international growth opportunities”.  

He said Triton was particularly enthusiastic about Befesa's growth potential in South Korea, Turkey, the Middle East and Asia “where industrial manufacturing is gaining in importance. This potential is also brought to light by the increasing regulatory demands on environmental management and recycling in these markets.” 

With a market share of over 50 percent in the recycling of steel dust and over 60 percent in the processing of salt slags from aluminium production, Befesa is already a European market leader in this area, according to Triton's statement. The company also operates an industrial waste management business in Spain, Portugal and Latin America.