Mergers and acquisitions

Macquarie acquires Wheelabrator, Tunnel Hill Partners

Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, New York City, and Wheelabrator Technologies Inc. have announced that Macquarie has completed the purchase of Wheelabrator from funds managed by Energy Capital Partners, Short Hills, New Jersey. Macquarie Infrastructure Partners operates within the Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets division of the Macquarie Group.

Wheelabrator is a Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based owner and operator of waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities. Wheelabrator currently has a platform of 25 assets in the U.S. and the U.K., including 19 WTE facilities (three under construction), two waste fuel facilities and four ash monofills.

"We look forward to working with Macquarie Infrastructure Partners to continue operating as a trusted and reliable provider of sustainable post-recycled waste disposal and renewable energy generation for the customers and communities we serve,” says Robert Boucher, the president and CEO of Wheelabrator. “Wheelabrator remains focused on executing our strategy, our priorities and our vision—to develop, deliver and realize the potential of clean energy."

"We are very pleased to partner with Wheelabrator and its management team to continue to provide high-quality waste-to-energy services in the communities that Wheelabrator serves. We look forward to working together in the years ahead to ensure Wheelabrator's continued success," says Karl Kuchel, the CEO of Macquarie Infrastructure Partners.

In a separate dealing, the Avon, Connecticut-based Ironwood Capital announced an exit from its investment in Stamford, Connecticut-based Tunnel Hill Partners, which was sold to Macquarie Group. Tunnel Hill Partners has five waste-by-rail transfer stations in the Northeast, two rail-served landfills in Ohio, the largest beneficial use site in Pennsylvania, a hauling operation with transfer stations in Connecticut and a recycling operation in Massachusetts.