Bord na Móna is close to finalising a deal to sell its waste management business, according to sources close to the State company.
The group has been seeking a buyer for Bord na Móna Recycling since earlier this year as it continues to refocus its businesses.
Sources say that talks on a deal, likely to be worth more than €55 million, are heading towards a conclusion, although they stop short of saying when the group will reach a final agreement. Bord na Móna itself did not comment when contacted.
Recent reports named Killarney Waste Disposal (KWD) in Co Kerry as the preferred bidder for the waste management business. However, other companies have also been named as potential suitors. KWD did not respond to a request for comment.
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It is understood that bigger players in the market are effectively ruled out as it is thought a deal with them would trigger competition concerns.
Bord na Móna Recycling runs household waste collection routes in Leinster and North Munster, as well as offering services to business and commercial customers.
It has recycling centres in counties Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Offaly and Wexford.
The State company entered the waste management business in 2007 when it bought AES for €61 million. Bord na Móna was at the time seeking new ventures to prepare for the winding down of its main activity, the harvesting and processing of the Republic’s peat bogs.
Around the same time the group also branched into renewable energy, where it has continued to build a presence, sometimes in partnership with other organisations, including fellow State company, ESB.
It announced a €1 billion joint venture with SSE Renewables, part of the same group that owns supplier Airtricity, earlier this year.
Bord na Móna announced that Amazon Web Services, the tech giant’s data storage arm, had agreed a power purchase deal with Derrinlough and to become the first tenant at Bord na Móna’s Eco Energy park in Co Offaly.
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