GFL buys Secure Energy at 11x EBITDA

GFL Environmental agreed on April 13 to buy Secure Waste Infrastructure for about C$6.4 billion, including debt, in a stock-and-cash deal. (investors.gflenv.com) GFL said it will pay C$24.75 a share for Secure, with the total consideration split 80% in GFL subordinate voting shares and 20% in cash. The offer values Secure at a 23% premium to its 60-day volume-weighted average price through April 10. (investors.gflenv.com) The price also works out to roughly 11 times Secure’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, according to a person familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg before the deal was announced. Reuters reported the transaction at about C$6.4 billion, including debt. (bloomberg.com) (reuters.com) Secure is not a household-trash hauler. It runs industrial waste and energy infrastructure in Western Canada and North Dakota, with more than 80 sites that include 12 landfills, 55 waste treatment facilities, 12 recycling facilities, 98 injection wells and five transfer stations. (investors.gflenv.com) That asset mix gives GFL a bigger position in Western Canada after it sold its Environmental Services business for an enterprise value of $8.0 billion and closed that sale on March 3, 2025. GFL said the Secure purchase is fully financed and “net leverage neutral.” (investors.gflenv.com 1) (investors.gflenv.com 2) GFL is selling the deal as immediately accretive. The company said adjusted free cash flow per share should rise 12% to 15%, while adjusted EBITDA margin would increase to 31.6% on a pro forma basis. (investors.gflenv.com) Secure’s own pitch to investors has centered on steadier volumes than a pure drilling contractor gets. In a July 2025 presentation, the company said 80% of cash flows were tied to production-related and recurring waste streams, with about 75% of 2025 expected EBITDA coming from waste management and about 25% from energy infrastructure. (secure.ca) Even so, Secure told investors on February 20 that 2025 was marked by “softer commodity prices” and “a volatile macro backdrop,” while still posting C$501 million of adjusted EBITDA for the year and guiding to C$520 million to C$550 million for 2026. That leaves buyers and investors parsing how much of Secure’s earnings are contracted and how much still moves with oilfield activity and pricing. (secure-energy.mediaroom.com) Patrick Dovigi, GFL’s founder and chief executive, said Secure’s “permitted waste processing and disposal assets” will “densify” GFL’s footprint and expand its service offering in the region. The next tests are shareholder and court approvals, and whether GFL can turn that 11-times-EBITDA price into the cash flow lift it is promising. (investors.gflenv.com)