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Waste manager WM checks out $3 billion sale of renewable natural gas unit, sources say

Waste management company WM is checking out a sale of its sustainable gas company that could be worth about $3 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Houston-based company is working with JPMorgan Chase &&. Co to evaluate interest from possible buyers, which could. consist of energy business and personal equity firms, the sources. stated, requesting anonymity as the conversations are confidential.

WM is preparing to unload the rights to develop RNG. operations on 115 land fills that it owns, the sources said,. including the business would maintain ownership of the landfills. RNG. is methane caught from biological waste and converted into. electrical energy or fuel.

If the offer talks conclude effectively, it would mark one. of the biggest-ever asset sales in the nascent U.S. RNG. industry. The biggest sale was BP's $4.1 billion takeover. of Archaea Energy in 2022.

We are constantly looking for ways to make the most of the worth of our. renewable resource business for our shareholders, which might range. from organic development efforts to collaborations or money making. through a sale, WM stated in a statement.

JPMorgan declined to comment.

WM had prepared to invest about $1.2 billion in between 2022 and. 2025 to grow the RNG service. The firm now wants to spend that. capital in other areas, the sources stated.

The business had anticipated the RNG system would contribute more. than $500 million of adjusted earnings before interest, tax,. depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) by 2026. It currently. generates about $150 million of EBITDA, according to the. sources.

WM is hoping the system's assessment would be comparable to, or. exceed, the revenues multiple at which Morrow Renewables sold. RNG operations at landfills to Enbridge in late 2023,. the sources added. Should it satisfy that valuation, WM will get in. the ballpark of $3 billion, the sources said.

RNG's environmental benefits consist of the reduction of. gas usage and capturing climate-warming emissions that. would otherwise escape into the atmosphere. However, it is more. pricey than natural gas, which is likewise experiencing a duration. of extended low costs.

WM, whose shares have actually risen by about 25% over the past year,. is one of the largest U.S. trash and recycling collection. business. The firm's fleet consists of more than 12,000 trucks. operating on compressed natural gas and it just recently signed a. sustainability partnership with Big league Baseball.

(source: Reuters)