PARIS-BASED environmental services group Veolia has received four bids for its Irish waste management business, which it has decided to sell.
Is is understood that Bord na Móna/AES, Panda, Greenstar and One51 have all lodged bids for Veolia Environmental Services.
Veolia's Irish waste division is thought to have been valued at about €70 million, and the sale process is being handled by AIB Corporate Finance.
All the bidders are Irish-owned, and have significant existing waste operations here.
Veolia has more than 3,500 commercial and industrial customers, and handles more than 320,000 tonnes of waste collected and 98,000 tonnes of waste recycled a year.
Its latest filed accounts show it made a profit of €8 million on sales of €64 million in 2006.
The company, which has its base in Tallaght, Co Dublin, employs 200 staff and had accumulated profits of €17.3 million at the end of 2006.
This is the latest step in a long-running round of consolidation within the Irish waste sector. In August The Irish Times reported that Greenstar and Panda were in advanced merger discussions. It is understood those talks ended recently without agreement.
Greenstar is owned by NTR, the energy and utilities group, and is Ireland's biggest waste management group with annual turnover of about €160 million
Panda was established in 1973 and acquired in 1990 by Eamon Waters, its current managing director. Based in Meath, Panda employs about 250 staff and has annual turnover of more than €50 million.
AES was acquired by Bord na Móna in 2007 for €60 million. Founded in 2001, the company increased its turnover by 11 per cent last year to €50 million. AES's domestic service is used by 60,000 homes across the midlands, and it has 5,000 commercial customers around the State.
One51 is an investment group controlled by businessman Philip Lynch. It has a number of companies involved in waste management and recycling. One51 is also an indirect backer of Greenstar through its shareholding in NTR.
In August, Veolia, which has operations in a number of countries, announced its intention to dispose of €1.5 billion worth of subsidiaries by the end of 2009 as part of an "asset rotation" programme.
The Irish waste business, which formerly traded as Onyx, is part of this plan. It is understood that the French company intends to retain its water and energy businesses here and will continue to operate the Luas light rail system in Dublin.
Veolia employs more than 1,200 staff in Ireland across its four divisions.
